Sydney, Dec 24
Communities and fire crews in Australia were on Tuesday preparing for several days of extreme bushfire danger.
Several out of control fires continued to burn in the southeastern state of Victoria on Tuesday despite more favourable conditions for firefighters.
With temperatures forecast to exceed 30 degrees Celsius across the state on Wednesday, Christmas Day, and 40 degrees Celsius on Thursday, Victorians have been advised to brace for catastrophic fire conditions.
Residents of communities that were evacuated over the weekend due to the threat posed by a major fire in the Grampians National Park, about 230 km west of Melbourne, were allowed to return to their homes for two hours on Tuesday morning to collect their belongings.
Authorities have said that they expected the fire, which has burnt more than 41,000 hectares of land in the national park over eight days, to continue burning for several weeks.
Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent said that the forecast conditions would be very difficult.