CANBERRA -- Bush fires pushed into the Australian capital Canberra on Saturday, killing at least one person, setting fire to as many as 100 homes and blanketing the National Parliament with ash and smoke, Reuters reported.

Officials said all of the city's 300,000 residents were at risk from the fires, which were burning on five fronts.

The Canberra Hospital, about 4km (two miles) from the fires, lost power supply. More than 20 people were being treated there for burns and smoke inhalation.

"No area of Canberra is immune from this emergency, everyone should be filling their bath tubs with water in case of spot fires," New South Wales Rural Fire Brigade spokesman Cameron Wade told Australian Broadcasting Corp Radio.

"It's been pitch black since half-past three ...

the sky is really red, the only light we've got is from the fires," Sarah Leheny told Reuters from one of 28 suburbs preparing to evacuate.

Fanned by 38 degree celsius (100 fahrenheit) heat and high winds, one fire burning in a park south of the city moved into the capital's western suburbs. Thousands of people fled as dozens of homes caught fire.

The Australian federal police said one man died.

"He died in his house, apparently of smoke inhalation," a spokesman said.

One of the worst droughts in a century has turned Australia's fire-prone bushland into a tinder box.

In the weeks before Christmas, at least one man died defending his home as fierce fires raged around Sydney, forcing hundreds to evacuate and engulfing at least 20 houses.

On Saturday, the worst fires in 50 years were also sweeping out of control through the snowy mountains southwest of Canberra, officials said. The country's main mountain resort of Thredbo had been evacuated.

--------- State of Emergency-------- In Canberra, officials declared a state of emergency as smoke blocked out the sun and residents rushed home to hose down roofs and fight dozens of small fires that have broken out from falling ash and embers.

"We've closed doors and windows, (we're) filling gutters and getting buckets of water and bathtubs ready," Leheny said.

The sprawling capital has been hit by drought for months, but the speed of the fire's spread took residents by surprise.

Local radio reported a fire station, school and medical center had been destroyed and fire crews had not reached many of the worst-hit areas of the city.

While hundreds of foreign diplomats live in Canberra, Parliament is not in session and the prime minister and most federal politicians are out of the city for the summer.

Director of Emergency Services, Mike Castle, told ABC radio the situation could worsen in the early evening when the wind is expected to shift and blow the fire into other suburbs.

"We expect the wind to shift ... that will bring fires to the southern parts" of the Australian capital territory, he said.

Radio broadcasts are being interrupted by regular power outages, and traffic lights throughout the city are flickering as electricity, gas and water services are hit by the fires.

In the snowy mountains, more than 1,000 people, most of them tourists, have been evacuated as blazes closed in on Thredbo, which nestles under mount Mosciuszko, Australia's highest peak at 2,228 meters (7,310 ft).

"The snowy mountains is probably facing its worst threat in half a century," said New South Wales State Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg.

At least 1,000 firefighters tackling outbreaks across 80,000 hectares (197,700 acres) of the mountains were being pulled back because conditions were too dangerous.

Thredbo is a popular bush walking center in summer. In winter, snow boarders and skiers flock to its slopes.