2,500 firefighters battled over 100 fires in New South Wales across the weekend as temperatures soared to 47 degrees Celsius in some parts of the state.
The NSW Rural Fire Service confirmed today that 30 homes have been destroyed and five damaged as part of the "catastrophic" conditions.
60 fires continue to burn, with 19 of them still uncontained according to NSW fire service officials. One fire alone burned through 124,000 acres.
At least one person has suffered serious burns, with no fatalities reported as of today. A 13-year-old boy and a 40-year-old man have been charged with allegedly starting fires, as reported by Euro News.
South Wales (NSW) state Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters today:
"We know that there are going to be homes lost. We know that there are going to be plenty of other buildings that have been destroyed.
"There is machinery that has been destroyed and ... we are talking about livestock that has been destroyed as well."
Lofted by wind, a crazy swirl of smoke billowed from wildfires in Australia today: https://t.co/fwkcQwZPms Images via #MODIS and #Landsat pic.twitter.com/6YovR61n8e
— Joshua Stevens (@jscarto) 7 December 2016
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull praised the work of emergency workers, the majority of whom are volunteers.
"It could have been much worse and were it not for those great Australian firefighters, it could have been a truly disastrous weekend in New South Wales with those record temperatures" he said.