NSW bushfires: milder conditions expected to help tackle blazes
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Version 0 of 1. Milder conditions and easing winds are expected to bring a reprieve to firefighters on Thursday, as New South Wales residents assess the cost of bushfires. Emergency warnings were issued for fires across the state on Wednesday, with numerous blazes near Cessnock, in the Hunter region, merging to threaten properties. The NSW Rural Fire Service says no homes were destroyed by the Kurri Kurri blaze, although some sheds and outbuildings were damaged. A woman and her young daughter were airlifted from a burning property to Cessnock airport in distress after an RFS helicopter was waved down at Bowditch avenue. Further south, a fire near Tarago, north east of the Australian Capital Territory border, has destroyed at least one rural homestead. A blaze at Sutton, also near the border, burnt 500 hectares, the RFS said. All fires, including two others at Parkes and Stubbo, had been downgraded to “advice” warning level by 9.30pm. Temperatures in parts of western Sydney and the Hunter hit the mid 40s on Wednesday. Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Rebecca Kamitakahara said expected lower temperatures and lighter winds would ease fire conditions in NSW on Thursday. “Broadly speaking everything is expected to be a bit more benign,” she said. “As that southeasterly pushes across the eastern half of the state that will lower the fire danger.”The Hunter region fires are being treated as suspicious. |