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128 killed in deadliest-ever Australian wildfires

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-09 07:58

Anyone found guilty of lighting a wildfire that causes death faces 25 years in prison in Victoria.

The remains of a house destroyed by bushfires is seen in the town of Wandong, 55 km (34 miles) north of Melbourne, February 8, 2009. Australia's deadliest bushfire crisis eased on Monday, but the death toll kept rising with at least 128 people killed as families searched for scores of missing in the twisted, charred ruins. [Agencies]

From the air, the landscape was blackened as far as the eye could see. Entire forests were reduced to leafless, charred trunks, farmland to ashes. The Victoria Country Fire Service said some 850 square miles (2,200 kilometers) were burned out.

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Only five houses were left standing out of about 40 in one neighborhood of the hard-hit Kinglake district. Street after street was lined by smoldering wrecks of homes, roofs collapsed inward, iron roof sheets twisted from the heat. The burned-out hulks of cars dotted roads. A church was smoldering, only one wall with a giant cross etched in it remained standing.

All the deaths occurred in Victoria state, where at least 750 homes were destroyed.

On Sunday, temperatures in the area dropped to about 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius) but along with cooler conditions came wind changes that officials said could push fires in unpredictable directions.

Thousands of exhausted volunteer firefighters were battling about a dozen uncontrolled fires Monday in Victoria, officials said. But it would be days before they were brought under control, even if temperatures stayed down.

Residents were repeatedly advised on radio and television announcements to initiate their so-called "fire plan" -- whether it be staying in their homes to battle the flames or to evacuate before the roads became too dangerous. But some of the deaths were people who were apparently caught by the fire as they fled in their cars or killed when charred tree limbs fell on their vehicles.

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