Firefighters battle Sydney blazes

Hundreds of firefighters today battled about 70 blazes across Australia’s most populous state, as the flames were fed by strong winds and unusually warm spring weather.

The fires were spread over thousands of acres of scrub and forest in New South Wales state, with the largest burning along the east coast north and south of the capital, Sydney, the Rural Fire Service said.

No houses had yet been burned, but police evacuated about 100 homes north of Sydney today as winds picked up. A change in wind direction a few hours later made it safe for the occupants to return, a police spokeswoman said.

Fire Service spokesman Cameron Wade said volunteer firefighters and 15 water-dumping helicopters worked through the day trying to contain the blazes, but many were forced to retreat when strong gusts fanned the flames.

The Bureau of Meteorology recorded winds of up to 62 mph in some areas.

“Fire crews in a lot of cases are pulling out of fire areas because the wind conditions are too strong,” Wade said. “No containment lines are held at the moment.”

The temperature in much of New South Wales during spring usually averages around 23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit).

However, the onset of the El Nino weather phenomenon has brought unusually warm weather, with temperatures this week climbing above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).

Wade said some of the fires began after an electrical storm swept across the state.

The strong winds also left thousands of people along the east coast north of Sydney without electricity as power lines and trees were blown over, power company Country Energy said.

At Grafton, 370 miles north of Sydney, a storm ripped two church steeples from their structures. No injuries were reported.