Firefighters contain eight fresh Australian bushfires

Firefighters contained eight new bushfires in Australia’s Victoria state yesterday, a day of extreme fire danger three weeks after 210 people were killed in the southern state in the nation’s worst blazes.

About 200 schools were closed and people in towns near the fires were put on high alert, authorities fearing high temperatures and strong winds could lead to a repeat of the February 7 firestorms.

But with more than 3,000 firefighters deployed or on standby, authorities managed to contain the eight new outbreaks, although dozens of fires continued to burn across the state.