A series of extreme wildfires stoked by high winds ripped through southeastern Australia on Thursday, casting clouds of ash and smoke around Sydney, leaving officials worried that hundreds of homes have been destroyed by the natural disaster.
Five large bushfires burned across the state of New South Wales, the Telegraph reported. Stoked by strong winds and strangely warm weather of around 93 Fahrenheit, the flames licked the Blue Mountains, located west of Sydney, and set an enormous grey-and-brown cloud over the city.
"We are unclear yet as to how many properties have been lost, but it's expected by the time we finish counting, it will be at least in the hundreds," NSW state Premier Barry O'Farrell told the Telegraph. "It will take some days to see the end of these fires and I suspect if we get through that without the loss of life, we should thank God for miracles."
Fire officials said that the fires were the worst they'd seen in years. NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons relayed his experience fighting the blaze, saying that the effort proved "very difficult and dangerous" on the "day of extraordinary fire behavior."
"This is as bad as it gets, you're talking destructive, damaging, and people losing everything they own," Fitzsimmons reported. "I think we will be counting properties in the dozens, if not the hundreds."
Fitzsimmons added that rescue crews and fire fighters had "many hours yet still to run," and a potentially imminent thunderstorm and wind speed change might exacerbate the situation.
One firefighter was injured, but no fatalities have been reported.
Local media suspected the fire began when strong winds pushed a power line over.
Resident of Springwood Joe Moore told Sky News that his house was destroyed in the fire. He wagered around 40 other homes were lost in the area, but officials did not confirm that number.
"It's about as bad a situation as we could ever have hoped for," he said. "It's one of those things, if you want to live up in the Blue Mountains, it's a beautiful place to live, but it has the dangers of nature's ferocity like we had today."
The NSW Rural Fire Service has issued a respiratory alert on the heavy smoke in the air.
