Australia: Wildfires/Bushfires are now officially the worst in Australia's history

UPDATE: Tuesday - AM - Death toll now stands at 181 souls lost. Authorities say total could reach 300, as dozens of more bodies are found.
More than 900 homes have been destroyed and 7,000 people have registered for assistance with the Red Cross. Winds and heat have moderated slightly as firefight continues.

UPDATE: Monday- Noon - Australia wildfires declared a crime scene as the death toll rose Monday to 166 in Australia's worst wildfire disaster, suspicions that some of the 400 blazes were caused by arson led police to declare crime scenes in some of the incinerated towns.
The fires near Melbourne in southeastern Australia destroyed more than 750 homes, left 5,000 people homeless, and burned 850 square miles of land, the Victoria Country Fire Service said.

Donna Bateman, whose home in Kinglake West burned to the ground with her pets inside, said firefighters barely had a chance.

"Everyone has a fire plan. People prepare for this for months," she said. "But the fire service told me that a fire that usually takes a day to travel had traveled three-quarters of a mile in an hour to my property. Now everything is gone".

John Handmer, a wildfire safety expert at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, said "research had shown that people in the path of a blaze must get out early or stay inside until the worst has past, Fleeing at the last moment is the worst possible option," he said.

UPDATE: Monday- AM - The death toll from Australian devastating bush fires stands at 160 and rising

UPDATE: The death toll from Victoria's devastating bush fires now stands officially at 130, estimated as high as 200 possibly dead with refugees flooding Red Cross centers.

NASA MODIS SATELLITE VIEW

Australia: Death toll of Australia's record setting wildfires rises to 120 - Arson suspected Trail of devastation as whole towns are consumed.

“Hell in all its fury has visited the good people of Victoria in the last 24 hours,” “And many good people now lie dead.”- Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister

"One of the “darkest days in Victoria’s history” and described the deadly inferno as “hell on earth” - John Brumby, Victorian Premier

"First you're fighting for your home, then you're fighting for your life"

Australian Bushfires The Facts:
Current sizeup: 865,000 acres.(350,000 hectares)

• New South Wales - 50 fires burning
• Victoria - 26 fires, including one with a 60-mile firefront.
• 700 homes have so far been confirmed lost, with 550 in the area of Kinglake and Kinglake west, about 30 miles north-east of Melbourne, where many of the deaths occurred.
• Record-breaking temperatures nearing 115 degrees(46C) today.
• Another fire is threatening Beechworth in Victoria’s north east.
• Other fire-affected areas include the regional city of Bendigo, in central Victoria, and the town of Marysville in the Yarra Valley, which has been destroyed with only one building left standing. In Victoria, 14,000 homes are also without power.
• Australian Army would be “providing logistics and support”.

Resources: The Australian Army has been called in to assist the thousands of weary firefighters who have been battling the blazes over the past 24 hours, and the government has announced a $10 million (£4.5 million) emergency relief fund to help the thousands of Victorians now left homeless. The fires are now officially the worst in Australia's history, surpassing the death toll of the Ash Wednesday fires which claimed 76 lives when they tore through Victoria and South Australia in February, 1983.

As the Prime Minister announced the emergency bushfire relief fund and the support of the Army, other Australian states banded together with Victoria, with the Premiers of South Australia and New South Wales offering to send firefighters and equipment across the border.

Arson: Several of the fires are believed to have been deliberately lit, and arsonists are hampering firefighting efforts with some blamed for relighting fires that had already been extinguished. "There are no words to describe it other than mass murder," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told local television.
The death toll – which has been climbing by the hour – now stands at 108. There are fears it will rise as many people are still missing in the worst affected areas. Two children are among the dead and 18 people remain in critical condition in hospital with burns and other life-threatening injuries.

Map of Australian Bushfires

Aus-emaps is mapping the bushfires. The red fire markers indicate fires reported in the last 12 hours the yellow markers indicate fires reported 12-24 hours ago.

The fire hotspots shown on the map are derived from the National Bushfire Monitoring System that provides information to emergency service managers across Australia.

Weather: Conditions look set to improve as the level has lowered across most of the state, and the forecast for the next few days is for more mild temperatures in the low 20s.
Multimedia:
Best online photographs: Times Online - Link PICTURES: Hell on Earth
Horse photo credit: AP - Link