The high fire alert in Australia's capital, Canberra, was lifted last night after an aerial assessment showed the danger had eased with an easterly wind change.
However, with four people dead, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage and 451 houses destroyed in last weekend's raging bushfires, recriminations have intensified.
Graffiti has appeared around the Australian Capital Territory blaming the devastation on Emergency Services Bureau negligence and calling for the sacking of its head, Mr Mike Castle.
Such has been the criticism that the territory's Chief Minister, Mr Jon Stanhope, has accused critics of undermining the morale of those dealing with the aftermath. "This determination to hold some inquest by media in this environment is actually fostering a lot of misinformation . . . \ is damaging to the morale of the Emergency Services Bureau and to each and every one of the personnel."
The Federal Minister for Territories, Mr Wilson Tuckey, has called for an inquiry into the fires and said the management of the Capital Territory's forests was partly to blame. "Canberra is a bush capital and I'm not totally convinced that it is as vulnerable to fire as it has been.
"I think it's got a lot more to do with the management of forests and the amount of fuel loads that have been allowed to accumulate there and the lack of entry facilities and all these things," he said.
The New South Wales Government has accused Mr Tuckey of wanting to conduct "a witchhunt" into the matter. The Firefighters' Union is also seeking an inquiry.