Bushfires were burning on Thursday in four Australian states: Tasmania, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.
Here are key facts on Australia's annual bushfires and what is being done to manage them.
- High temperatures and low rainfall make bushfires a natural hazard. Natural tree oils in native eucalypt forests fuel fireballs.
- Common causes are lightning strikes or humans, who drop cigarettes or light blazes deliberately. Australia's science agency, the CSIRO, says controlled burns, where fires are deliberately lit in high-risk areas, are key to management. But backburns can spiral out of control.
- Bushfires have killed more than 250 people in Australia in the last 40 years. In February 1983 blazes killed 75 people as they swept across Victoria and South Australia.
- Trained volunteers and professional firefighters typically team to fight fires. In severe seasons volunteers come from the United States and New Zealand. Light aircraft and helicopters are used for water-bombing.
- As well as human impacts, long-term bushfire effects include loss of bird and animal habitats, reduced soil fertility lasting decades and contamination of water catchments with ash and debris.
Sources: Reuters, Emergency Management Australia (www.ema.gov.au), Department of Sustainability and Environment (www.dse.vic.gov.au), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (www.csiro.au), Environmental Literacy Council (www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/46.html)
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