Australia braced for further wildfires

Australia is bracing for more bushfires amid warnings of "catastrophic" conditions and fears that the city of Sydney could be under threat.

Thousands of firefighters are on standby across the nation's most populous state, New South Wales.

Fire authorities said wildfire conditions were at catastrophic threat levels - the most severe rating available - in parts of the state.

All state forests and national parks are closed as a precaution and total fire bans are in place with temperatures expected to reach 45C in some areas.

"We are shaping up for one of the worst fire danger days on record," New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.

"You don't get conditions worse than this. We are at the catastrophic level and clearly in those areas leaving early is your safest option."

No deaths have been reported, although officials in Tasmania are still trying to find around 100 people.

They have been missing since a fire tore through the small town of Dunalley, east of the state capital of Hobart, last week, destroying around 90 homes.

Police said no bodies were found during preliminary checks of the ruined houses.

Wildfires have razed 20,000 hectares of forests and farmland across southern Tasmania since Friday.

More than 100 fires were blazing across New South Wales at one point today, although only a handful of homes were under threat.

Officials are bracing for winds up to 80km/hr later in the day that could fan the flames in unpredictable directions.

One volunteer firefighter suffered severe burns to his hands and face while fighting a grass fire near Gundaroo village, about 220km southwest of Sydney, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service said.

He was flown to a hospital in Sydney for treatment.

Wildfires are common during the Australian summer. In February 2009, hundreds of fires across Victoria state killed 173 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes.

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