AUSTRALIA ON ALERT AS WILDFIRES BLAZE OUT OF CONTROL

The last patient is evacuated from Rylstone Hospital as a fire approaches the town of Rylstone, northwest

Hundreds of residents in eastern Australia were on alert Sunday as out-of-control wildfires fanned by soaring temperatures and windy conditions threatened properties, officials said.

• A bushfire emergency warning, the highest level of alert, has been issued for those living in the New South Wales towns of Rylstone, Kandos and Clandulla about 170 kilometres (105 miles) northwest of Sydney.
• The warning come nine months after a firestorm in southeastern Victoria state in which 173 people were killed as fires razed homes and trapped residents in the country's worst natural disaster of modern times.
• As temperatures in Sydney reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), prompting thousands to flock to Bondi and surrounding beaches, about 1,000 firefighters were battling around 100 blazes across New South Wales state.
• Of most concern was the Rylstone/Kandos fire which has burned through some 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) of bush and has now broken containment lines, despite the efforts of 170 firefighters aided by six helicopters and four planes.