Australian fire authorities have warned of new bushfire threats looming across the country.
The capital Canberra's north-western suburbs, which escaped the full force of the weekend fires that killed four and destroyed 419 homes, were placed on high fire alert. Wind gusts up to 65kilometres an hour have been forecast for later in the day.
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) emergency services areexpecting weekend weather similar to those that created Saturday'sfires.
Authorities in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia andWestern Australia also forecast dangerous bushfires by the weekendand put many communities on high fire alert.
Sydney was blanketed today in a haze of smoke from bushfires,which the South Wales Rural Fire Service officials warn could pickup by the weekend.
In Victoria, where firefighters have been unable to controlfires which have consumed two million acres of bush, officials warned that temperatures are expected to soar above 40 degrees in high winds at the weekend.
AFP