Wildfire burns 116 homes in Australia

SYDNEY — More than 100 houses were destroyed by a Christmas Day wildfire that tore through a stretch of coastline popular with tourists in southern Australia, forcing thousands to flee their homes, officials said Saturday.

Cooler weather and light rain on Saturday eased the immediate threat from the blaze along Victoria state’s scenic Great Ocean Road, but officials warned that it could continue burning for weeks.

No one was killed or injured in the fire, said Victoria Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley.

Hundreds of firefighters spent Christmas battling the blaze, which was triggered by a lightning strike. The fire destroyed 116 houses in the small towns of Wye River and Separation Creek, Lapsley said. Many of the properties destroyed were vacation homes.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes after water breached flood barriers and poured into the streets.