Saturday, 9 November 2019

NSW fires destroy more than 100 homes, three people unaccounted for

Updated 13 minutes ago


The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) says at least 100 homes have been destroyed, as an unprecedented bushfire emergency grips the state.
The RFS also said three people were unaccounted for, but that there were no confirmed fatalities yet.
It said more than 30 people had been injured.


Six fires are still burning at emergency warning level in NSW — at the height of the chaos yesterday, 17 blazes were given that status.
Five of the emergency fires were burning within a 150 kilometres of Port Macquarie on the mid-north coast.
Another was burning just 11 kilometres east of Glen Innes in the Northern Tablelands.
In a Facebook post, the RFS said: "While conditions have eased compared to yesterday, Very High fire danger will continue for many areas today."
Overnight, southerly winds eased conditions in some places, but areas around the mid-north coast are expected to remain a hot spot.
Around 1,000 firefighters are still on the ground with 300 support staff.
Yesterday, there were multiple reports of people being trapped in their homes.

RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the state was in "uncharted territory" as fires tore through bushland left bone-dry by the drought.
"We have never seen this many fires concurrently at emergency warning alert level," he said.
Some of the fires were so fierce they began creating their own weather systems.
Almost 1,200 firefighters and two large air tankers were deployed to fight the blazes on Friday.
Many residents across the fire grounds were evacuated.

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