Officials declare worst of Australian bushfires 'over'
Australian officials have declared that the worst of the 16-day bushfire crisis is over.
They say firefighters will not rest until the last burning twig is extinguished.
Fire crews and American water-dumping helicopters have saved the coastal village of Fisherman's Paradise from the flames.
New South Wales fire chief Phil Koperberg says the peak of the emergency is over. The fires have burned 170 homes and razed more than 1.2 million acres of forest and farmland.
Wildlife officials estimate thousands of native animals, including koalas, have been killed or injured in the fires.
However, some bushland has begun to regenerate, just days after being burned.
Officials said green shoots were sprouting from blackened trees and bushes in the 40,000 acre Royal National Park, on Sydney's southern outskirts.
It is the world's second-oldest national park after Yellowstone in the United States.
Australia's forests are dominated by eucalyptus and other oil-based trees and plants that burn easily, but grow back quickly after fires.
More than half the 100 blazes that have burned since December 24 were deliberately lit.
Police say they have arrested 28 people, many of them children and teenagers, on charges of starting blazes.
