Canberra swept by firestorm that kills four

CANBERRA - Firefighters in Canberra fear scorching temperatures and gusting winds today will fan bushfires that have killed four people and destroyed 400 homes.

About 220 people have been treated for fire-related injuries in Canberra Hospital - mainly for burns, respiratory problems and cuts - including 60 people who were admitted to the hospital.

Firefighters worked feverishly in the Australian capital yesterday to bolster defences against bushfires, which finally burst through the city's western perimeter on a 10km front on Saturday after burning for a week.

"The whole philosophy is to surround the ACT [Australian Capital Territory] either with the black that is burned or bulldozer lines," said Mike Castle, director of emergency services.

Firefighters said winds overnight could whip up embers from hundreds of smouldering homes in the park-like city, where temperatures have been forecast to hit 38C again today after yesterday's 31C respite.

"You've got just about every tree, the whole root system, still smoking ... so while the risk is somewhat reduced, we are facing significant worsening wind conditions," Mr Castle said.

Eye-stinging smoke blanketed the "bush capital" - home to 300,000 people, including hundreds of diplomats - and a layer of ash stretched to Parliament Buildings in the city centre as fires burned into a second day.

The four people killed were a 37-year-old woman who died when fire engulfed her house in the western suburb of Duffy; another person who perished in Duffy; and a man, 61, and a woman, 83, who succumbed to smoke inhalation.

A Reuters photographer said streets of burned-out houses and the shells of vehicles were still smouldering. Melted garden hoses lay strewn like snakes across blackened lawns.

Roofs had caved in and powerlines were down, leaving up to 25 per cent of the city without electricity. Officials said it could be days before all power was restored.

The streets were deserted of people but full of wildlife, including birds, kangaroos and dogs, both alive and dead.

"This is certainly the most devastating bushfire experience that any community in Australia has ever suffered," said ACT Chief Minister John Stanhope.

"It was a holocaust of an extent that we did not and simply could not have the capacity to deal with."

Mr Stanhope said damage would run to hundreds of millions of dollars, with houses alone estimated to account for around A$80 million ($87 million).

Police said one teenager had been arrested for looting.

The historic Mt Stromlo Observatory on the outskirts of the city was largely destroyed by a fire storm.

Addressing concern that Canberra was unprepared, Mr Stanhope said he understood the frustration of householders who had been forced to face the flames alone when firefighters were overwhelmed.

"It set fire to between 200 and 400 houses, the ACT fire service had available to it 12 pumping machines ... It was simply beyond us," Mr Stanhope said.

Prime Minister John Howard, who interrupted his summer holidays to visit the devastated capital, said it was the worst fire damage he had seen in Australia.

"Everybody is in a state of shock. I have visited a lot of bushfire sites and I've never seen anything on this scale."

Former Commonwealth marathon champion Robert De Castella lost everything, including his medals and record of his career, when his Chapman home was razed.

"We were down the coast with the boys having a swim and found out about five o'clock that the fires were racing through.

"But by the time we got back everything was gone."

One of the worst droughts in a century has turned Australia's fire-prone bushland into a tinder box.