Australia bushfires: 'Too late to leave' warning as out of control flames near capital Canberra

Out of control bushfires are threatening Australia's capital city and burning large swathes of land across the state of New South Wales, as residents have been warned to prepare for an evacuation.

Canberra declared a state of emergency on Friday as yet another heatwave spread across the country, sparking more dangerous blazes in a region already devastated by fires.

Issuing a warning to residents of the nearby towns of Michelago, Colinton and Bredbo, the New South Wales rural fire service said: "If you're in the area, it's too late to leave."

The fire now threatening the capital covers 35,800 hectares (88,500 acres) of forests and farmland to its south, according to the territory's emergency services agency commissioner Georgeina Whelan.

Blazes known as spot fires have been sparked by embers carried by the wind up to 10km (6 miles) away from the massive inferno, and Ms Whelan said some of those fires would eventually merge with the main bushfire.

"The fire may pose a threat to lives directly in its path," Ms Whelan told reporters, warning: "Driving is extremely dangerous and potentially deadly."

The rural fire commissioner for New South Wales, Shane Fitzsimmons, said sheds and stables across the state had been destroyed but no homes had been reported lost to wildfires on Saturday.

Temperatures were forecast to reach 41C (105.8F) on Saturday, fuelling what the rural fire service described as deteriorating conditions.

It is the first continuing state of emergency in the Canberra territory since 2003, when bushfires killed four people and destroyed almost 500 homes in a single day.

At least 33 people have been killed in fires across southern Australia since September. More than 3,000 homes have been destroyed, and an estimated one billion animals have also been killed.