Australian forest fire victims return to ravaged homes

Feb 8, 2011, 9:35 GMT

Sydney - Perth residents evacuated when forest fires on the outskirts of the Western Australia state capital razed 72 homes and damaged 32 began returning home Tuesday to pick up the pieces.

The fire, which broke out Saturday and claimed no lives, had been brought under control but was still burning.

The Fire and Emergency Services Authority said some of those who fled would be escorted back to what was left of their homes.

'We'll do it in the most sensitive way we can, but I think people do want to get access and just see what's happened and get some sort of closure,' authority spokesman Craig Hynes told the national broadcaster ABC.

The forest fire on the west coast is the latest in a series of natural disasters to hit Australia.

On the eastern seaboard, torrential January rains flooded much of Queensland, inundating coal mines and flooding thousands of houses in Brisbane, the state capital.

To meet a repair bill estimated at 5.6 billion Australian dollars (5.6 billion US dollars), Australians were expected to have to pay more taxes.

Last week, a monster cyclone thundered over the north Queensland coast, smashing crops, wrecking tourist resorts and running up a bill estimated at 1 billion Australian dollars.

Cyclone Yasi flattened 150 houses and left 650 with serious structural damage.

Read more about Australia Disasters