No one knows yet the _ number of lives which have been lost in this terrible fire .But reports suggest that it is more than one hundred . A wall of flames fifty feet high and at least one hundred and fifty miles wide is now racing towards the forests and rich farmlands of southern Victoria . Towns less than one hundred miles from Melbourne will be in danger unless the wind changes . People are rushing excitedly into the streets . The police have warned them not to see the fire but many people are doing so . The cause of the fire is unknown . No rain has fallen in this part of Australia for three months , and the hot , north-west wind from the great central desert is blowing at more than thirty miles an hour . The firefighters are travelling to the fire by road , rail and air . But it is not easy to get there . Flames and fallen trees have cut off or blocked roads and railway lines . The thick smoke often prevents them from finding the air strips  . It is said that the fire has brought the greater danger to the country since the Second World War . By the time the article was written , the fire  _  .
had just broken out had been put out was spreading violently was coming to an end