Bushfire threat still high as Australia clean up begins

Australians on Wednesday began sifting through ashes of hundreds of bushfires that have ravd country, relieved that ir worst fears were unrealised -- but wary of a long and brutal summer ahe. Firefighters were still battling 140 blazes across country's eastern seaboard, but a respite from "catastrophic" wear conditions meant danger from many fires was downgred. rrn state of Queensland remained on high alert, with residents on rth shore of popular holiday town osa told to "leave immediately" as an "unpredictable" fire was burning nearby.

Re - Australia's Intense Bushfires Spre Across Rural Areas Of Sydney

Worst-hit areas

But in worst-hit areas of New South Wales, cooler sourly winds eased conditions -- a stark contrast with gale-force gusts and high temperatures that plagued firefighters for much of Tuesday. In all, 50 homes were damd or destroyed, and around 20 people were injured, but most populated areas were spared. Residents of small towns of Glenreagh and Nana Glen returned to find houses intact, a nearby 150,000-hectare (370,000-acre) infer having stopped just short of ir doors. But on nearby farmland, unlucky families faced homes destroyed and cars transformed into blackened husks.

Re - Neighbourhoods Turn Pink As Aircraft Combats Bushfires In Australia

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services acting commissioner Michael Wassing said ar wind change on Wednesday afteron could worsen several large fires in difficult-to-access areas of state.

"We've got ar tough day today and re's an extended forecast that we're t out of woods by any means," he said.

Tough conditions were expected to flare again in Queensland and New South Wales at weekend as temperature rises and winds pick up.

"We will t have all se fires contained before n," New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said, ding that it could be "many, many weeks" before situation is fully under control. "Unfortunately, what we need is rain... and re is certainly thing in forecast for foreseeable future that's going to make any discernible difference." More than 300 new fires began in state Tuesday, with 19 classified as emergencies. 

y spanned a distance of almost 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) -- from outskirts of Sydney rth toward Brisbane.

" losses, dam, consequences could have been simply ermous across such a bro geographic area," Fitzsimmons said.

Investigation started

New South Wales Police said y h begun investigating wher a small number of blazes h been deliberately lit, as y me handful of arrests for suspected looting of fire-stricken properties. hot, dry continent of Australia has long experienced bushfires, but scientists say climate change is exacerbating extreme wear conditions, including a prolonged drought in country's east that has created tinderbox-like conditions.

Re - Australians Urged To Evacuate Immediately As Bushfires Loom Large

Bureau of Meteorology says human-caused climate change is also "influencing frequency and severity of dangerous bushfire conditions" by increasing temperatures, sapping moisture from environment and causing an earlier and more extreme fire season. unprecedented wave of bushfires have brought renewed calls for conservative government to curb fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and or senior ministers have repeatedly refused to answer questions about climate change during unfolding catastrophe. 

Re - Australia: State Of Emergency Declared Amid 'catastrophic' Bushfires