Wildfires have destroyed nearly 40 homes in farming areas north of Perth in Western Australia.
Hundreds of firefighters are battling the inferno outside the wheat-farming town of Toodyay, 80km from Perth.
Police said falling power lines had sparked the fire amid searing heat and high winds.
State Premier Colin Barnett has designated the blaze a natural disaster, enabling the release of emergency funds, as he visited the area.
'This is a devastating fire with great destruction,' he told reporters, adding that the needy would receive a $3,000 hand-out.
'I want to express my sympathy to those who have lost their homes, over 30 houses destroyed by a very severe, very intense bushfire in the surrounding area of Toodyay.'
Some 37 homes along with sheds, outhouses and livestock were engulfed by the fire, which swept through more than 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of land in the sparsely populated farming community.
Three firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation and dehydration and one resident had minor injuries, the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) said.
Fire crews who worked through the night said the blaze was nearly under control, aided by cooler weather.
A second major fire in Badgingarra, about 160km north of Perth, has burned through some 10,500 hectares of land, although no homes were lost.
Australia is still recovering from Black Saturday, when more than 2,000 homes were lost in the state of Victoria in the country's worst natural disaster of modern times.
Officials credited a new fire warning system aimed at encouraging people to leave their homes rather than try to fight the flames with saving lives in Toodyay.
'We're saying to people make your life a priority,' said a FESA spokesperson.
Australians are bracing for another horror bushfire season after one of the warmest winters on record and following a decade-long drought in parts of the country.
Parts of Western Australia's Goldfields region were given the top-level 'catastrophic' fire danger rating today, while Tasmanian state authorities have imposed a ban on lighting fires.
