**Firefighters in Australia are tackling bush fires in the far west of the country as strong winds and high temperatures sweep across the area.**Several homes are reported to have been destroyed in Toodyay, about 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Perth.
Some of the fires are burning out of control, but so far are not threatening any major centres of population.
Bush fires have threatened South Australia and New South Wales since the southern hemisphere summer began.
The Western Australia wildfire has destroyed at least 20 homes and injured three firefighters, officials said, but more losses are feared.
Out of control
“We can confirm that 20 homes have been lost, but early indications of people moving through the area is that the number could double,” Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) spokesman Allen Gale said.
“House after house has been destroyed, in a line, and there are still pockets where the fire is still burning.”
Hundreds of firefighters were battling fires at Toodyay, a farming district after hot and windy weather fuelled fires in the region.
Three firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation and dehydration after battling the flames, which consumed about 2,700 hectares (6,700 acres) including houses, sheds and farmland.
Officials warned residents not to return to their homes with flames burning as high as two metres (seven feet) and trees smouldering on the roadsides.
“The people directly affected by the fire, obviously, want to get back to their properties, but the area is very unsafe,” Mr Gale said.
“There’s a lot of shock for the people right now. It’s a mess out there, but people in town are helping and wanting to offer assistance, which is great.”
A second major fire in Badgingarra, about 160km north of Perth, had also burned through some 10,500 hectares of land, although no homes were lost.
“The bushfire has been now been contained but is not under control,” FESA said.
Cooler conditions and water-bombing helicopters were expected to help firefighters on Wednesday.
Australia last saw devastating fires in February this year and residents prepare each year for the onslaught.
On “Black Saturday” in February, 173 people died and more than 2,000 homes were lost in the state of Victoria in the country’s worst natural disaster of modern times.
In November, officials issued a new level of “catastrophic” fire warning for the first time, during a heatwave in the south of the country.