HOMES have been destroyed in Victoria and NSW, others are under threat and there are now fears that the relief of a cool change will bring a wind change that could make the bushfire situation even worse.
Two homes have been destroyed and two people injured in a bushfire in central Victoria as the state also battles fires in its north and southwest.
In NSW, at least one home has been destroyed at Jugiong and another 20 are under immediate threat in that area.
In Victoria, residents of the town of Snake Valley, about 30km from Ballarat, say two homes have burnt down.
"We have lost a couple of homes," a man, who did not want to be named, said from the Snake Valley Hotel.
Deans Gap fire south of Nowra. Picture: Dan Himbrechts
The grassfire has grown to about 500 hectares in size and is bearing down on the farming community of Carngham where most of the 400 residents have been evacuated.
A father and son, aged in their 50s and 20s, were treated for radiation burns at the staging centre at the Snake Valley Golf Club after they had driven from their home to safety.
Rural Ambulance spokesman John Mullen said the pair suffered superficial burns to their faces and hands and were taken to Ballarat Base Hospital for observation.
A CFA crew tackle the fire in Sunbury. Picture: Kris Reichl
He believes another four people have presented themselves at the hospital for treatment for minor burns.
A Country Fire Authority spokeswoman confirmed two homes had been hit by fire in the Chepstowe area, as the grassfire casts spot fires about one kilometre ahead.
An emergency warning was issued on Tuesday afternoon for the Chepstowe district, as the fire burnt through the area around the Beaufort-Carngham and Station Lane intersection.
A blaze at Kentbruck, which flared up last Friday, has burnt though 9000 hectares, but a westerly wind has forced the fire back on itself.
A fire burns near Ean Higgins property at Kydra River in Southern NSW.
Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said the fire was not expected to directly hit Dartmoor near the South Australian border, but the town was on the highest alert.
"We don't believe this fire will be controlled today. This will reach into tomorrow due to the conditions in southwestern Victoria," Mr Lapsley said.
Northeastern Victoria was also on high alert with wind speeds getting up to 60km/h and temperatures reaching the low 40s.
"It is serious fire weather in northern Victoria, it is very serious fire weather in southern NSW," Mr Lapsley said.
"Fires that do start will run hard, fast and be very difficult to control."
Victorian fire crews would be positioned at Wodonga and Wangaratta to help respond to fires in southern NSW if required as well as blazes in northeastern Victoria, including Corryong. The Elvis water bomber had also been moved from Essendon to Wangaratta, he said.
Victorian fire crews were also expected to help fight the growing blaze between Cooma and Bega in NSW.
The 64 Victorian firefighters who went to Tasmania on Sunday will return on Thursday and be replaced with a fresh contingent on Friday.
Jess posted this image of the Yarrabin fire on Twitter: View of the #Yarrabin fire from Cooma #NSWfires. Picture: Jess@Aristophania/Twitter
Mr Lapsley said a separate small fire at Sunbury on the Calder Highway had been controlled by 30 fire crews.
An emergency alert was sent to 1400 people in the area, in Melbourne's northwest, via mobile phones and landlines.
Latest from Victoria
In NSW, homes are under threat as firefighters battle more than 130 blazes in 40C-plus temperatures and conditions officially rated as "catastrophic".
The worst fires were in the south of the state, near Cooma, Nowra, Bega and Wagga.
A southerly change is now blowing through, but firefighters are concerned that the associated wind change could tunr fire flanks into new fire fronts and send them towards other communities.
Sydney recorded a peak temperature of 42.5C.
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said that "we have been very fortunate" in the face of "dirty, hot difficult conditions".
The NSWRFS posted this image on Facebook from a Line Scan aircraft, showing the Yarrabin fire in the Cooma area. The red and yellow sections show the most intense part of the fire, burning quickly through grassland.
More than 1600 firefighters were in the field or on standby on Tuesday night, after temperatures climbed and blazes fanned by winds over 70 km/h burned more than 60,000 hectares of grass, scrub and bushland.
Thirty homes were threatened by a fire 12km east of Cooma - 20 in the Kybeyan Valley and 10 around Mount Forest Road in the Cooma-Monaro area.
RFS Riverina spokesman Matt Apps said firefighters aimed to shore up containment lines on Tuesday night particularly at Tarcutta and the Wokolena grass fire and were watching a southerly change.
"The wind change makes it unpredictable," he said.
Adam Marsters posted this image of the NSWRFS state opeartions centre in Sydney on Twitter. Picture: Potter Media
At the township of Tarcutta, in southwest NSW, a bushfire burnt through 500 hectares and surrounded the town.
But by the early evening the Hume Highway was reopened in both directions with the immediate threat to the village passing.
However, RFS spokesman Brendan Doyle urged people to remain vigilant.
"If the southerly wind changes, that may push the fire back on to the town," he said.
Meanwhile, just before 7.30pm (AEDT) the RFS issued an emergency warning for people east of Bungendore near the Kings Highway after a fire was spotted near Mulloon Road, possibly threatening homes.
At Wandanian, south of Nowra, the Princess Highway was closed in both directions on Tuesday night as a southerly wind change saw a large bushfire burn out of control.
"It is too late for people to leave the area," the RFS said.
"These people should prepare their homes and themselves for possible fire impact."
The NSWRFS also posted this Facebook image of a grass fire 30km north east of Conargo that has so far burnt 1000ha and is moving towards the township of Jerilderie.
Up to 90 per cent of NSW was in severe danger, with conditions officially described as catastrophic in the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, the Southern Ranges, the northern and eastern Riverina and southern parts of the lower Central West Plains.
Three youths were taken into police custody on Tuesday afternon after a suspicious fire in Shalvey in Sydney's west.
Firefighters contained the blaze, which affected about 10 hectares of bushland.
A total fire ban will remain in place across NSW on Wednesday.
An aerial photograph of the Yarrabin fire burning in the Cooma Monaro area. Picture: NSW RFS
The Salvation Army has launched the Australian Disaster Relief Appeal in response to the bushfires in communities in NSW and other communities across Australia.
Latest from NSW
In Tasmania, residents and tourists stranded on the Tasman Peninsula for five days have finally been led out of the devastating bushfire zone as fire crews continue to battle blazes across the state.
For locals led out of the Forcett-Dunalley region, it was the first time they had seen the devastating impact the fire has had on their community.
But they have been warned the continuing danger of fires, asbestos and contaminated water could keep them from their homes for weeks.
Firefighters continue to battle 40 bushfires around the state, with five blazes still considered a major threat.
A fire at Montumana in the North-West is causing most concern, an emergency warning sparking the evacuation of residents from the holiday hamlet of Rocky Cape and the closure of the Bass Highway.
Tasmania Fire Service chief officer Mike Brown and emergency services minister David O'Byrne said it may be weeks before residents can return to their homes as regions, particularly Dunalley, were riddled with asbestos and contaminated water.
The first convoy of vehicles that were stranded for four days on the Tasman Peninsula finally make their way back to Hobart after leaving Port Arthur. A fire truck goes against the out-coming traffic after spot fires flared up near Forcett. Picture: Toby Zerna
Mr O'Byrne said 300 homes in the Forcett had their power restored yesterday and work was continuing to restore power to other parts of the fire ravaged region.
Mr O'Byrne said Workplace Standards had already started working on a clean up plan for areas that were riddled with asbestos.
Premier Lara Giddings said the Department of Health and Human Services was working on getting protective clothing so that residents could visit their homes for the first time.
The calls came as a team from Victoria arrived in Hobart to help search burnt out properties in the Dunalley region for the bodies of people police fear may have perished in the fires.
Billie Hasett, 9, visits what is left of her school in Dunally, Tasmania. Picture: Newton Matthew
Tasmania Police assistant commissioner Donna Adams said there were still no confirmed deaths but police were concerned about what the future may hold.
Ms Adams said there were about 100 people still unaccounted for.
Police will not release the names of the people they are most concerned about.
Rumours circulating on social media that bodies were being removed from properties during the afternoon were denied by police.
The Insurance Council of Australia said claims from fire victims in southern Tasmanian had reached more then $40 million.
But the damage bill is expected to reach hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Tasmanian Fire Service continued to warn Tasmanians about the threat of bushfires with the status of a number of blazes around the state consistently changing.
About noon, the Forcett-Tasman Peninsula fire flared up near the township of Eaglehawk Neck.
Residents were warned it was too late to flee the fire and urged to seek the refuge at the local jetty and beach.
A convoy of trucks that had been sent to the region with emergency supplies was then left stranded.
Shortly after a new fire front emerged near Beaconsfield in the state's north before quick action contained the danger.
Serious fires continue to burn uncontrolled in Mathinna, in the north east, near Bicheno on the East Coast and near Giblin River in the remote south west.
Authorities hope a cool change today will help efforts to contain the fires.
Mr Brown said bushwalkers near the Giblin River been relocated by helicopter to a safer region and Parks and Wildlife personnel continued to monitor the area.
Ms Giddings announced the establishment of the Interim Bushfire Recovery Committee yesterday to oversee recovery efforts.
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