The Australian prime minister, Julia Gillard, inspects the burnt remains of the Dunally school in southeast Tasmania on Monday after wildfires destroyed more than 100 homes on the southern island of Tasmania over the weekend with police still hunting for some 100 people still unaccounted for. — AFP photo

Australians were bracing Monday for what officials warned could be the worst fire danger day ever seen, as police searched for some 100 people still missing in ravaged Tasmania.
Prime minister Julia Gillard urged Australians to be vigilant in coming days, with scorching temperatures predicted in several states and hundreds of blazes already raging.
The danger was most acute in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, with the mercury expected to hit 43 degrees Celsius (109 F) in Sydney on Tuesday.
NSW premier Barry O’Farrell sounded a grim warning about the forecast record heat and high winds, with a large amount of grass and vegetation ripe for burning due to bumper spring rains.
‘Tomorrow is not going to be just another ordinary day,’ said O’Farrell. ‘Tomorrow will be perhaps the worst fire danger day this state has ever faced.’