SYDNEY • Electricity firms cut off power to thousands of people, more than 100 schools were closed and residents in high-risk regions sought shelter yesterday as Australia's devastating bush fires opened up a new front.

Australia has been battling wildfires on a number of fronts for several days, with the fires endangering thousands of people in many areas.

Blazes this month have claimed at least four lives, burned about one million hectares of farmland and bush, and destroyed over 300 homes.

Yesterday, a fresh battle line was drawn as 50 fires sprang up in South Australia state, where officials lifted the fire danger warning to "catastrophic", with temperatures poised to hit 42 deg C and strong winds also forecast.

A catastrophic warning means that should a fire start, it will not be possible for firefighters to control it, given weather conditions.

"From sunrise until well past midnight, this state is going to experience very difficult fire conditions," Mr Brenton Eden, an assistant chief officer at the South Australian Country Fire Service, told ABC Radio.

More than 600 firefighters attended to incidents across the state yesterday, and most were expected to keep battling fires throughout the night.

As some of the fires approached electricity transmission lines, provider SA Power Networks cut power to over 12,000 customers.

With strong winds stoking blazes, the authorities put residents near four of the fires on high alert to flee in case the flames spread rapidly.

"This is the worst of the weather from a fire behaviour point that we will have seen," Mr Eden told reporters in Adelaide, the state capital.

Australia is prone to bush fires in its dry, hot summers, but the recent series of fierce blazes has been sparked early, in the southern spring, after a three-year drought that has left much of the country tinder-dry.

While the immediate threat was in the south yesterday, firefighters continued to battle about 100 fires that have been burning for several days across Australia's east coast.

Sydney, the country's most populous city, with around five million residents, was covered with thick smoke for the second day running.

Health officials on Tuesday warned people in the harbour city to stay inside as the smoke reached hazardous levels.

REUTERS