Authorities warn wildfires threaten Australian towns

MELBOURNE, Australia – Authorities warn that more homes are threatened by wildfires that have burnt dozens of homes and buildings in rural southeast Australia.

Victoria state Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said emergency warnings had been issued on Tuesday for the towns of Dargo and Licola east of the capital Melbourne as flames approached homes.

Crisp says 38 fires have razed more than 40,000 hectares (150 square miles) of forest and farm land across the state in Friday last week, destroying nine homes, damaging another house and damaging or destroying 23 out-buildings. The Jinks Creek Winery was among the buildings destroyed at the weekend. No serious injuries have been reported.

Wildfires are common across sub-tropical Australian during the southern summer which ended last week.