Fire crews exploit weather to build defences against wildfires

Firefighters have contained some of the 80 fires raging around Sydney.

They are taking advantage of favourable weather to build defences against a massive fire front threatening the city's north.

The fires have razed more than 250,000 acres since Wednesday, destroyed 41 homes and killed two people.

Since Friday, three smaller blazes have joined a 15 mile-long front threatening satellite villages dotted throughout heavy bush land on the city's northern fringe.

"We really do have a huge area of fire up there," said John Winter, a spokesman for the New South Wales Rural Fire service.

Temperatures have dropped to about 25C and winds have eased and swung around, pushing many fires back on to areas already razed.

Firefighters exploited the favourable conditions by lighting controlled fires, known as backburns, in underbrush and grass lands around and ahead of fire fronts to reduce the amount of natural fuel available to the wildfires.

Mr Winter says fire crews have gained control of blazes in the southwest and west of Sydney but warns the danger was far from over.

"Obviously we remain concerned because even with the milder conditions today the fires still will spread," he said.

Fire crews had been expecting at least two days of favourable weather. But, the latest forecasts said conditions would deteriorate on Sunday with temperatures soaring to about 35C.