<p><strong>Smoke from a <a class="c18" href="http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/wildfires/">wildfire</a> mushrooms over a beach in Forcett, Tasmania, on January 4. (<a class="c18" href="http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/wildfires/">See more wildfire pictures</a>.)</strong></p><p class="c4 c10">Wildfires have engulfed southeastern <a class="c18" href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/australia-guide/">Australia</a>, including the island state of Tasmania, in recent days, fueled by dry conditions and temperatures as high as 113ºF (45ºC), the Associated Press reported. (Read <a class="c18" href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/04/murray-darling/draper-text">"Australia's Dry Run" in<em> </em><em>National Geographic </em>magazine</a>.)</p><p class="c4 c10">No deaths have been reported, though a hundred people are unaccounted for in the town of Dunalley, where the blazes destroyed 90 homes.</p><p class="c4 c10">"You don't get conditions worse than this," New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told the AP.</p><p class="c4 c10">"We are at the catastrophic level, and clearly in those areas leaving early is your safest option."</p>