Bushfires in New South Wales continue to rage with more than one hundred fires being recorded thus far. Warnings remain in place across the state as temperatures soar above 40 degrees and fire authorities say they do not expect any relief from conditions until well into January. This issue has now been declared a state of emergency.
The heatwave has settled in Australia as the bushfires there continue to rage on and engulf the state of NSW. More than three million hectares have been burnt and more than 700 houses destroyed.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has returned from his holiday in Hawaii and says that he fears for the state of NSW at the moment.
"No one wants to be out there fighting these fires, no one wants these fires to be happening at this time, he says.
"But when those fires do occur, as they have for a very long time in this country, then those who have, and there's over 200,000 of them in Australia who have signed up and put their hand up to be there to defend their communities, then they go out and they do this work and they do it on behalf of all of us.
"And they're getting tired and they're getting fatigued," Morrison says.
'Catastrophic' warnings remain in place across the state. Weather conditions have eased today providing light relief but the temperature continues to rise to dangerous levels.
Te Ao spoke to several Māori in Australia to see how they are faring.
David Smart of Te Rarawa was ordered to evacuate his home yesterday as an approaching fire threatened his house and suburb. However, today he has returned home fortunately but says he is evacuation ready.
For Tegan Tuhoro of Tūhoe, who was driving from Brisbane to Sydney today, there were delays and roadblocks on their journey south. She said there was a lot of fire and haze and at one point in the journey she was concerned for their safety.
NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says he does not expect any relief from conditions until the end of next month.
"We’ve got to keep in mind that we’re not expecting any rainfall to make any meaningful difference to these fires until January or February. That’s still a way to go."
Bushfires are also raging across Victoria and South Australia.
A state of emergency was declared in NSW on Thursday by Premier Gladys Berejiklian to protect communities ahead of worsening fire and weather conditions. It marked the second time in two months this step has been taken.
Premier Berejiklian said the state was facing "the most devastating bush fire season in living memory having lost six lives and almost 800 homes destroyed."
Two firefighters, Geoffrey Keaton, 32, and Andrew O'Dwyer, 36, were killed in NSW on Thursday when their truck was struck by a falling tree and rolled. Premier Berejiklian described their deaths as "devastating news".
The NSW Bureau of Meteorology says today is thankfully expected to be much cooler for many sections of the state but that bushfire smoke is affecting large parts of central and eastern NSW.