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A huge wildfire has scorched nearly 5 million hectares (about 12 million acres) of Australian outback in the nation’s desert hinterland.

The blaze had been burning for more than one week in sparsely settled country astride the borders of the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia, according to Australia’s ABC News.

The fire was but one of a number of blazes burning in the area. On Thursday, the website of The Australian said that out-of-control fires are disrupting road and rail travel in central Australia, where an area bigger than Belgium has already been blackened.

The bushfires were active in areas around Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory.

On Thursday, cooling along with a shift in wind was helping fire crews fighting a fire at Kings Canyon, which The Australian site called a “tourist hot spot.”

The cool change followed a cold front that shaved nearly 20 degrees F off temperatures at Alice Springs, shown by data accessed by AccuWeather.com. Having reached 96 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, the town registered upper 70s on Thursday.

Central Australia, like wide swathes of the more populous east, had unusually high rainfall during the last rainy season, leading to abundant new growth in the outback. Now, following the winter dry season, Southern spring’s strengthening sun and rising temperatures are leaving dried-out vegetation at risk of burning.