Australia wildfire damage worse

The destruction wrought by Australia's deadly bushfires came into shocking focus Friday after authorities almost doubled the number of homes destroyed. As police hunted arsonists blamed for some of the fires, authorities said more than 1,800 houses were razed by the worst wildfires in the nation's history that killed at least 181 people in southeastern Victoria state.

"The number has jumped from 1,069 yesterday to 1,831 properties today," Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin said.The scale of destruction had emerged as more resources including military planes were engaged in the damage assessment and clean-up operation across a vast area of farms and eucalypt forest, he said.

Heatwave temperatures approaching 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) combined with strong winds and tinder-dry scrub to produce a firestorm that razed some 450,000 hectares (1.1 million acres) on Saturday.Authorities expect the death toll to rise beyond 200 as more charred ruins are inspected for bodies, especially in the town of Marysville northeast of Melbourne where about 100 people are feared to have died.

A new fire warning for nearby Healesville was downgraded after traumatised residents spent the night preparing to defend their homes again from flames and embers bursting out of the surrounding bush.But they were told to remain vigilant due to a "high level of fire activity."People in the area need to remain alert as there may not be a warning should conditions change unexpectedly," the Country Fire Authority said.Healesville resident Adam Menary told national radio that people in the town were anxious. "It's a pretty tough time for people," he said.