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Fires in Australia, Philippines cause extensive damage

Nearly 3,000 impoverished families faced a bleak new year after losing their homes in a fire that gutted a Manila shantytown, officials and residents said yesterday.

One man suffered first-degree burns but there were no reports of deaths in the blaze that broke out late Thursday in Manila's Tondo district, fire officer Guillermo Fermalino said.

The fire raged for three hours and was put out early yesterday, leaving mostly only the galvanized iron roofs and charred posts of shanties built on stilts close to Manila Bay.

Fermalino said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

"We lost our homes to the fire so our new year will be sad," a woman resident told ABS-CBN television.

"We hope people can help us," cried Aileen Penaflor, another resident.

They said they failed to save their families' belongings.

Meanwhile, firefighters battled to contain scores of wild fires in scorching, tinder-dry conditions across southeast Australia yesterday and were bracing for more devastating blazes in the days ahead, officials said.

Authorities declared total fire bans across New South Wales state, Australian Capital Territory, and in most of Victoria state from midnight yesterday until tomorrow. A total ban bars all controlled fires including barbecues, camp fires and the burning of domestic or garden waste.

New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg appealed to the public to strictly observe the fire ban.

"It is critical that new fires do not start over the next 48 hours in anticipation of severe fire weather conditions expected for Sunday," Koperberg said in a statement.

Fire officials also warned that no New Year's Day fireworks displays would be held without special permits.

"It's going to be too hot, too windy and dry, and at the moment our firefighters are still out there working on fires across the state, and they don't need to be looking after any new fires that are started by fireworks," New South Wales Rural Fire Service spokeswoman Rebel Talbert told Sky News television.

A permit has already been issued for the traditional New Year's fireworks at Sydney Harbor, she said.

Firefighters contained 20 fires in New South Wales on yesterday, including a major blaze in Muswellbrook, just north of Sydney, which burned out 5,000 hectares of farm and grass land overnight, Talbert said.

One fire destroyed two farm sheds near Muswellbrook and strayed close to several rural homes and industrial conveyor belts used to shift coal from mines to the local power station.

Victoria's fire authorities declared a fire ban in the state capital of Melbourne and in the northwest of the state.

Authority spokesman Trevor White said the ban in Victoria would continue until 4am tomorrow. The New South Wales ban will stay in place until midnight tomorrow, Talbert said.

The fire danger across Victoria was rated as very high or extreme yesterday after more than 100 fires broke out across the state a day earlier.
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