Houses destroyed in Australia as fire crisis escalates

SYDNEY, Australia -- Fires burning for weeks in southeast Australia's rugged mountains hit villages Sunday, destroying at least 16 homes and threatening hundreds more.

Flames ravaged six houses in one of Australia's best-known ski resorts, Mount Hotham, and 10 more in nearby villages, authorities said.

Ian Miles, spokesman for Victoria state's environmental department, said that given Sunday's weather -- 43 mph winds and temperatures over 104 degrees Fahrenheit -- the destruction could have been much worse.

"All those losses are obviously very distressing for us but under the extreme conditions -- particularly with the high winds -- I'd say we've done pretty well," Miles said.

Thousands of firefighters, most volunteers, battled alongside residents to save houses as flames approached and embers fell from afternoon skies black with smoke.

Three crews from Victoria's Country Fire Association survived a 30-minute fire storm by huddling in their trucks, covering themselves with blankets and spraying themselves with water.

The intense heat twisted metal and blistered paint on the trucks.

One firefighter, Andy Farmer, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio there was a moment when he thought they would not survive.

"The vehicle after a period of time started to get hot and we could see the other vehicles around and tires started to burn and we could see the equipment on the front of the other trucks melting," Farmer said. "I felt the glass and realized it was at a point that it could explode."

Fireworks planned over Sydney's harbor Sunday to celebrate Australia Day -- when the first European settlers arrived in 1778 -- were canceled amid fears they could spark fires in Sydney and out of respect for the thousands of firefighters working across the country.

Sydney was not hit by fires Sunday but smoke from blazes north of the city drifted into northern suburbs. Another fire was burning out of control west of the Blue Mountains, which stretch to the western outskirts of Sydney.

Jeff Aranson, who lives in the village of Angler's Rest in Victoria, managed to save his house but saw at least two other houses go up in flames.

"There were fireballs coming up the gullies at us and the fireball was coming up the hill as fast as it could," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

In neighboring New South Wales, strong winds fanned fires toward another well-known ski resort, Thredbo, forcing the evacuation of all but a handful of staff to nearby Jindabyne, which also was threatened.

Across the state, more than 4,000 firefighters and nearly 100 planes and helicopters were battling dozens of blazes.

Cooler weather arrived in the mountains in some parts of Victoria state in the evening with winds changing from northwest to southwest -- sparing some towns but putting others in danger.

A string of small communities were on high alert. Hundreds of elderly and young people left the area Friday as towering walls of flame threatened their homes.

Most of the fires were raging through eucalyptus forests left tinder dry by a yearlong drought. Once fires start among the oil-filled trees they are impossible to put out.

Firefighters try to contain the fires by bulldozing fire breaks around them or deliberately starting smaller fires to hem them in with scorched earth that will not burn again.