Australia Ablaze

It is summer in Australia, and they are facing disaster.

The deadliest bushfires in Australia's history have wrought death and destruction across southern Australia, killing scores of people, destroying hundreds of homes and razing entire towns to the ground.

At the last count the toll had reached 108, but the thousands of firefighters still battling the blazes warned that they expected to find many more bodies when they reach the worst affected areas tomorrow.

The fires began on the hottest day ever recorded in Melbourne and were fanned by gale-force winds. Many of the dead were said to have waited too long in their homes before fleeing and were burnt alive in their cars as multiple fires tore through the countryside of Victoria state. Some of the blazes were set by arsonists.

2008 was a bad year for fires in California. The low rainfall levels to date promise even more burning. My heart goes out to the good people of Victoria.