Wildfires wreck homes in cyclone-hit Australia

Perthn: Wildfires destroyed at least 59 homes in Perth, Australia's fourth largest city, officials said Monday, as soldiers fanned out for massive cleanup operations across the cyclone-hit northeast.

A natural disaster was declared in areas of Perth on the country's west coast, where two major blazes raged out of control for a second day, triggered by heat and high winds brought by last week's ferocious Cyclone Yasi.

Fast and unpredictable flames swept through rugged terrain at Roleystone, on Perth's southern fringes, and along its northern outskirts at Red Hill, levelling 59 homes and scorching hundreds of hectares of forest.

"Fifty nine structures have been damaged or destroyed," the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (Fesa) said. "An additional 28 structures have sustained partial damage of varying degrees."

A bridge over the Canning River collapsed in the flames and would be impassable for at least three weeks, Fesa added.

Emergency chief Craig Hynes said there had been no serious injuries or fatalities, with officials prepared for the "remarkable" winds, but he cautioned that authorities were yet to bring the fires under control.

Both were burning in areas of heavy vegetation on the city's outskirts, in rugged terrain that was difficult to access except by air.

"We're still calling both fires uncontrolled and we won't be able to let people back into the areas due to safety reasons," he said.

"We are very concerned about the safety of the fire grounds and we are doing our best to make sure that there are no injuries. Life is our priority."

The emergency came exactly two years after the deadly "Black Saturday" firestorm which claimed 173 lives in southeastern Victoria state, an anniversary marked Monday with memorial services in the worst-hit towns.

"It's a reminder to all of us just how long and painful the journey back from natural disaster can be," said Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

"It's going to strike .... as perhaps a very cruel irony that on the day they mark the two-year anniversary of the Victorian bushfires so many Victorian communities are actually battling floodwaters," she added.

A top-category storm when it tore across Australia's northeast tourist coast on Thursday, Yasi trashed hundreds of homes and decimated crops worth at least Aus$500 million.