Brisbane (Australia), Oct. 19 : The Australian state of Queensland has declared a state of emergency after at least 40 wildfires destroyed several properties and forced residents of the area to flee.

According to The Age newspaper, firefighters are still battling one of the largest of the fires in central Queensland near Mount Archer National Park.

The blaze had begun to ease in the last three days, but flared up again late Saturday.

Frantic families are reportedly trying to gather everyone to get to out of the area as the flames came over a ridge towards their homes.

Firefighters are hoping that showers and thunderstorms forecast will help them control the blaze.

They say the fire may have been deliberately set.

Wildfires are also burning in New South Wales and Western Australia, but no property or lives there are under threat.

In February, wildfires killed 173 people in the southeastern state of Victoria in a disaster known as Black Saturday. (ANI)