Christmas wildfire claims more than 100 homes in Australia

A bushfire which flared on Christmas Day has destroyed more than 100 homes in southern Australia, officials said Saturday, as they warned the losses could have been worse.

The blaze hit two towns southwest of Melbourne, Wye River and Separation Creek, where many of the 116 houses lost were believed to be holiday homes.

As about 500 firefighters worked to battle the blaze, aerial shots showed buildings razed to the ground in the tree-filled coastal area along the Great Ocean Road tourist drive.

"It's kind of confirmed for us just how hot, just how volatile, just how intense this fire was, burning right to the water's edge," Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Andrews welcomed the fact that no lives were lost in the state which endured horrific bushfires in 2009, in which 173 people perished.

"We can rebuild houses, of course. Things can be much worse than that," Andrews told a press conference earlier Saturday.

The fire near the coastal town of Lorne was started by a lightning strike on December 19 but flared up Friday due to hot weather and winds pushing embers over fire control lines.