Homes destroyed as fires rage near Sydney

Walls of flames 100ft high swept through parched eucalyptus forests and destroyed at least three homes as several fires raged out of control north of Sydney today.

Elsewhere in New South Wales, five houses were destroyed and a man hospitalised with burns to 60% of his body after a wildfire blackened 58,000 acres in Junee, 180 miles south-west of Sydney.

In the main blazes north of Sydney, dozens of residents were forced to flee their houses – some of them taking to the water in boats – as hundreds of firefighters battled the flames.

Authorities closed the main freeway heading north from the city as flames lapped at its edges and a huge pall of grey smoke drifted across the region.

At least three homes were destroyed near Woy Woy, about 40 miles north of Sydney, New South Wales Rural Fire Service said in a statement.

“It has been a very fast-moving fire, it has been actually a number of fires that have joined up together and is now burning down toward the Umina area,” rural fire service spokesman Cameron Wade told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio, adding that the flames had already destroyed seven firefighters’ vehicles.

Rural Fire Service spokeswoman Rebel Talbert told Nine News that there had been no lightning strikes, and “unfortunately, it looks as though we have had human intervention, but whether ... that’s deliberate or accidental really remains to be seen.”

Late tonight, hundreds of firefighters were pulled back from the flames and deployed to protect homes as a cold front moved towards the region, bringing gusts of over 100km (60 miles) per hour and causing extremely dangerous conditions, Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg told reporters. Water-bombing by helicopters was also forced to stop at nightfall.

After the fire changed direction, thick black smoke and glowing embers churned out of a fire heading towards the village of Kariong, home to hundreds of people, but there were no immediate reports of houses being destroyed. Some 170 firefighters were patrolling the village protecting homes.

The fires were initially fanned by hot, dry winds from the Outback as the region recorded temperatures of up to 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) – the hottest New Year’s Day on record for Sydney. The cold front was expected to drop temperatures considerably and rain was forecast for later in the week.

Dozens of fires were burning across New South Wales, but those north of Sydney appeared the most threatening.

Earlier, Koperberg warned that if winds turned the fires to the north, many more homes would be under threat.

“We have a testing evening coming up but if everyone does what they’re told, hopefully we should get to tomorrow morning with very few losses,” he said.

In neighbouring Victoria, rain helped hundreds of firefighters control a blaze that destroyed five homes on Saturday night at Stawell, a town of 8,000 people 240km (150 miles) west of state capital Melbourne.

The blazes north of Sydney came despite states of emergency declared across much of New South Wales, including large parts of Sydney, in a move aimed at mobilising firefighters ahead of possible flare-ups.