Southeast Australia is still in the red as fire crews are tackling dozens of bushfires and forecasters were predicting more hot weather for the weekend according to BBC News Asia.
Some 3,000 square kilometres of land were razed as more than 100 fires were burning in New South Wales.
At one point one of the fires was encroaching on a disused army range littered with unexploded bombs but fire crews were tackling the blaze and felt confident of controlling it.
This year, a spell of record-breaking hot weather across southeast Australia has helped fan the fires, which destroyed dozens of homes.
Tasmania was the first state to be affected this year, before fires broke out in New South Wales. Other blazes were also reported in Queensland and Victoria.
Officials said some fires in New South Wales, remained uncontained, and more than 3,000 square kilometres of land have been destroyed.
The worst blazes are in the state’s south near Yass, Sussex Inlet and Cooma.
At Dean’s Gap, near Sussex Inlet, firefighters have used special gels and bulldozers to carve out containment lines.
They have been scrambling to take advantage of cooler weather forecast for next week.
Bushfires also continue to cause concern in Tasmania. In one instance a couple in Tasmania and their five grandchildren, sought shelter in the water under a jetty as flames closed in on the town of Dunalley.
Tim Holmes said he and his wife and their five grandchildren sought shelter in the water under a jetty for three hours.
“We saw tornadoes of fire just coming across towards us and the next thing we knew everything was on fire, everywhere all around us,” he said.
Later on, he managed to make his way to shore and fetch a dinghy to transport his wife and the children.
Meanwhile the state government has said it was considering offering emergency grants to people who had lost their homes.
Temperatures have been so high the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has increased its temperature scale to 54 degrees and added a new colour code.
The fires follow days of searing heat. The national average maximum daily temperature exceeded 39˚C (102˚F) from January 2 to January 8, breaking a previous record of four consecutive days of such heat.
Average national top temperatures on Monday of 40.33C set a new record.
The bureau has added new colours to its forecast chart to indicate temperatures above the previous 50C limit because of the heatwave.
It said extreme temperatures would continue in Australia for the next week.
The worst Australian wildfires in recent memory killed more than 170 people in early 2009.