Sydney, Jan 6
Cooler conditions and rain have allowed authorities in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria to contain a major bushfire that has been burning since mid-December.
Victorian authorities on Monday downgraded emergency warnings for the bushfire in the Grampians National Park, about 230 km west of Melbourne, and allowed evacuated residents of nearby towns to return home.
Firefighters were able to contain the fire after temperatures dropped from a maximum of 40 degrees Celsius (C) on Sunday to under 15C on Monday, with the cool change bringing rainfall.
The fire, which was sparked by lightning on December 16, has burned through more than 76,000 hectares of land in the national park and surrounding areas.
Communities in and around the national park were ordered to evacuate in late December due to the threat posed by the fire. Emergency Management Victoria said on Monday that four homes and 40 outbuildings were destroyed by the fire and hundreds of animals were killed, news agency reported.
Incident Controller Peter West told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that officially declaring the fire contained was the first step towards reopening areas of the national park to the public.