Hundreds of holidaymakers huddled on a smoky beach last night as an out-of-control bushfire caused the evacuation of a resort town south of Sydney and destroyed at least eight homes.
Local radio reported that 4,000 to 5,000 residents of Sussex Inlet, 120 miles from the city, were forced out after blustery winds blew the fire, which has burned since Christmas Day, across control lines, cutting off the town.
Some were moved to two local clubs and others to the beach where boats were on standby for further evacuations.
While the threat to Sydney's northern suburbs - which saw fires come within nine miles of the harbour bridge - abated a little, the 10th successive day of high temperatures and erratic winds whipped up a 37-mile fire-front in New South Wales, stretching in an arc from the Blue Mountains to the west, and the coast to the south. Many fires broke containment lines set by firefighters and support staff.
About 600 people fled Bowen Mountain village in the Blue Mountains, 50 miles west of Sydney, as the flames approached.
Although there has been only one serious casualty - a woman who suffered head and spinal injuries after she fell from her roof while defending her home - 160 houses have been lost. Thousands more have been saved by 15,000 mainly volunteer firefighters since the so called "black Christmas" emergency began.
"It's hard to think of a bigger threat," the premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr, said. "It's very much like war."
At least 21 arson suspects, including 14 children, have been arrested and police are searching for others. Arson is thought to be responsible for a blaze that threatened about 250 homes in Sydney on Tuesday night.
Mr Carr said earlier that he wanted to change the juvenile laws to force young arsonists to visit hospital burns units, the victims of fires, and to clean up bushfire areas.
"I think sending them to juvenile prison is in some respect too good for them," he said. "What is better is to rub their noses in the ashes they have caused by making them clean up the mess, work with the victims and go into a burns ward and talk to people who have suffered from fire."
A 35-person police unit, Strike Force Toronto, is trying to track down serial arsonists suspected of starting many fires. A motorcyclist seen riding along dirt trails in the Blue Mountains is a prime suspect.
"It is about as bad a picture as you could conjure up," Phil Koperberg, the fire chief of New South Wales, said. "I have never seen anything like it in my 32 years of service."
Fire officials said the high temperatures were expected to ease in the next few days, with moist sea breezes replacing the dry westerlies that have fanned the fires. But rains are still several days away.
The fires have devastated national parks and farms and killed thousands of sheep. About 300,000 hectares of bush - twice the size of greater London - have been destroyed.
