About 3,000 firefighters are battling almost 100 bushfires across eastern Australia with soaring temperatures and low humidity sending some blazes out of control and burning down possibly 10 homes, fire officials say.
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service said 95 fires were burning in the state, Australia's most populous, with 35 of them out of control.
One blaze at Mittagong, southwest of Sydney, burnt down homes, industrial properties and forced the closure of the main highway linking Sydney, Australia's biggest city, with the capital Canberra.