An Irish man living in Australia has spoken about his experience after being caught up in the wildfires ravaging the eastern coast of the country.

An Irish paramedic working in Australia close to the bushfires has said the rural fire fighters are “unpaid heroes.”

Australia continues to battle “catastrophic” fires as the severe heatwave and bushfire crisis continues.

More than 100 homes have been destroyed by a Christmas Day wildfire that tore through a stretch of coastline popular with tourists in southern Australia.

Winds that were fanning wildfires and showering embers on threatened Australian communities have eased after scores of residents evacuated their homes in mountains west of Sydney.

Scores of Australians have evacuated their homes in mountains west of Sydney as intensifying winds fanned wildfires that have ravaged the region for days.

More than 120 wildfires were burning in one Australian state today and forecasters warned of severe danger in another as temperatures and winds increased across parts of the south.

The official death toll from last month’s deadly Australian wildfires was downgraded today to 173 from a previous count of 210.

Thousands of firefighters in southern Australia were on alert today over fears that strong winds and dry conditions could whip still-burning wildfires into a dangerous new threat to residents.

Police believe they have found the bodies of almost everyone killed in Australia's wildfire disaster and the current death toll of 201 is not likely to rise dramatically, a senior commander said.

The man accused of starting one of Australia’s deadly wildfires is a lonely web surfer who liked dogs, always said “G’day” to neighbours, and was trying to find love online.

A man charged with deliberately starting one of the wildfires that killed a total of more than 180 people in Australia had to be taken into protective custody to guard him from angry victims today.

Police are questioning a man on suspicion of arson in Australia’s wildfires.

The Australian federal government said today it will clear away hurdles that have stalled a nationwide fire alert telephone system, after thousands of people were caught off-guard by the deadliest wildfires in the country’s history.

With rescue teams finding new corpses by the hour, the Australian wildfire death toll was expected to soar past 200 today.