More than 500,000 houses and businesses in the city of five million were left without power on Friday night after an electrical substation exploded in the heat.

Emergency services were stretched to breaking point as dozens of people succumbed to heat-induced exhaustion.

Temperatures in Victoria state topped 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) for a record-breaking third consecutive day on Friday, when up to 20 homes and a timber plantation were destroyed in a 6,500-hectare (16,000-acre) blaze.

There was some relief on Saturday when the temperature dropped to a relatively comfortable 30 degrees in bay-side Melbourne, which is hosting the Australian Open tennis tournament.

But authorities said big fires continued to burn in the rural Latrobe Valley, 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the city, threatening a major power supply and a number of homes amid persistent 40-45 degree heat.

"These are unprecedented conditions. It's the hottest week since records began," said Victoria's state leader John Brumby.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called it an "ugly time."

"The southern part of the nation is a tinder box at the moment, it is just appalling," he said, reflecting upon the "terrible lessons of previous harsh Australian summers."

Earlier in the week, as the historic heat took grip, men's champion Novak Djokovic sensationally pulled out of his Australian Open quarter final with heat-related problems, the first defending champion to withdraw in the Open era.

Three-time champion Serena Williams, who will take on Russia's Dinara Safina in Saturday's women's final, described playing as an "out-of-body" experience before the roof of the Rod Laver Arena was closed and a row over the Australian Open heat policy ensued.

The heat was blamed for a spike in sudden deaths in the neighbouring state of South Australia, which was in the grip of its hottest weather since 1908 as temperatures exceeded 40 degrees for a fourth straight day on Saturday.

A total of 30 people, mostly aged older than 70, had perished in the heat by Saturday morning, with more recorded throughout the day, according to the state's ambulance service.

"We've noticed pretty much the same sort of pattern as yesterday where we've had a similar sort of workload, as far as unexpected and unfortunate deaths are concerned," an ambulance spokesman said, adding that they had received a record number of calls.

Emergency call-outs jumped by more than 70 percent in Victoria, with extra staff brought in to meet demand.

In Melbourne, the Friday power cut forced the cancellation of all trains. City buildings were evacuated, and rescue crews were called in to free workers trapped in office tower elevators.

Patients were turned away from overstretched hospitals running on reserve generator power.

"We're in uncharted waters, unprecedented conditions, and with the week and hot weather (we've had) some of these systems have never been designed to operate in 44-45 degree heat," Brumby said.

The unrelenting heat is forecast to continue for the next seven days, and could be sign of climate events to come, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.

"It is very likely that hot extremes, heatwaves and heavy precipitation events will continue to become more frequent as a result of climate change," it said.

Arsonists hunted as Australian wildfires raze homes
Australian police said Sunday they were hunting arsonists believed to have sparked a wildfire that destroyed at least 29 homes as a blistering heatwave claimed dozens of lives.

The blaze "is being treated as a suspicious fire and investigators believe it was deliberately lit," police in southeastern Victoria state said.

"The fire has destroyed homes, property and livestock in the Yinnar, Boolarra, Mirboo North and surrounding areas," the statement said.

Firefighters were bringing the inferno under control Sunday after it swept for days through bushland as dry as tinder, but the worst heatwave in a century still posed a threat, officials said.

"This is not over yet," Victorian Premier John Brumby told reporters at a firefighters' staging area in the Gippsland town of Churchill.

"This is still going to be a tough period and we're still going to have to work together to get through it."

Another six fires broke out overnight Saturday and on Sunday and while lightning was believed to be the cause of four of them, arson was suspected in the other two, authorities reported.

The government's Australian Institute of Criminology released a report Sunday which said half of the nation's 20,000 to 30,000 bushfires each year are deliberately lit.

Milder weather conditions had helped firefighters contain the main fire, which scorched more than 6,500 hectares (16,000 acres), the Country Fire Authority said.

Temperatures in Victoria topped 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) for a record-breaking third consecutive day on Friday, but dropped from their sizzling peaks to about 30 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

Emergency crews had made good progress on containment lines around the main blaze but unstable winds were still posing a threat, said incident controller Ben Rankin.

"However, it's good conditions, the best we've had up to date," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The fire authority confirmed that 29 homes in the Darlimurla and Boolarra areas had been destroyed by the fire since Friday and warned that the figure could rise.

The worst heatwave in a century has also been blamed for deaths from heat-related stress in the Victorian state capital Melbourne and the capital of neighbouring South Australia, Adelaide.

At least six people have died in Melbourne and more than 500,000 homes and businesses were left without power on Friday night after an electrical substation exploded in the heat.

Power had been restored Sunday.

In Adelaide, at least 35 suspected heat-related deaths were reported after the city sweltered under almost a week of temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, including a maximum of 45.7 degrees on Wednesday.

While temperatures were forecast to remain below 40 degrees Celsius for the first time in days, officials urged residents to check on their elderly neighbours.

"We know older people suffer more in the heat, especially those who are already ill with chronic conditions like heart or kidney disease," said state health chief medical officer Paddy Phillips.

Homeless people, and those who have homes without fans or air-conditioning, have been offered refuge in an air-conditioned city bus depot.

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