Bushfires continue to burn across Australia as temperatures soar

Out-of-control bushfires, assisted by sweltering temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), are causing havoc across South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.

In the latest update delivered on Wednesday, Country Fire Service incident controller Scott Turner said the biggest area of concern was in the south-west of the fire zone, where the blaze is burning in difficult-to-access terrain.

"With the weather conditions easing and abating tomorrow, that will give firefighters, for the first time, the upper hand where we will have full control of the fire," he told the ABC, adding that "The weather won't dictate to us and it certainly will allow us to strengthen all containment lines and hopefully over the next two days declare our fire controlled."

Containment lines had been established along 85 percent of the 240 km perimeter of the worst fire, at Sampson Flat, 30 km northeast of Adelaide, said firefighters.

Meanwhile, an emergency warning was issued mid-afternoon Wednesday in western Victoria after severe winds pushed the fire towards nearby communities.

Adelaide's city center reached 41.2 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit) at 2:30 p.m. local time, the sixth straight day the mercury has exceed 40 degrees.

The South Australian bushfire has raged since Friday and burned through 12,500 hectares. Up to 140 people have been injured.

More than 160 buildings, including up to 38 houses, have been lost in the Sampson Flat fire as police crime scene investigators trawl through the charred landscape cataloguing information. Some buildings were so badly damaged that it was not immediately known whether they were houses or sheds.

Residents and firefighters in Western Australia and Victoria have also been on high alert as fires breakout across the states.

In Western Australia, two out of control bushfires north of Perth are endangering lives and homes, with the largest fire front 5 km long and spot fires starting 700 meters ahead of it.

Meanwhile in Victoria, a medium bushfire that has burned more than 2,000 hectares remains out of control in parkland west of the Grampians National Park, 340 km northwest of Melbourne. The Country Fire Authority issued an emergency warning mid-afternoon on Wednesday to residents east of the fire front after severe winds pushed the blaze east.

As of 3:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, there were 24 bushfires burning out of control in South Australia, 20 in Victoria and nine considered active in Western Australia. Endi