(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/120114_australia_fire.photoblog600.jpg)ReutersA fire approaches the Newell Highway near Coonabarabran, Australia, in this handout photo provided by the Rural Fire Service on Monday.By James Grubel, ReutersCANBERRA -- Raging wildfires destroyed dozens of homes and licked at Australia's leading optical space observatory on Monday, officials said, but spared giant telescopes that have mapped far-away galaxies and discovered new planets.
Less fortunate were a father and son who police arrested after a fire was lit deliberately to destroy illegal drug laboratories they were alleged to be running in dense bushland. Police were closing in on the drug labs when the fire was lit.
More than 140 fires are burning across vast areas in the north and west of New South Wales, Australia's most populated state, and in the island state of Tasmania despite cooler weather giving firefighters some respite.
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