Australia: Bushfire Conditions Set To Worsen

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Fire conditions are expected to worsen in the New South Wales Blue Mountains, with anyone without a reason to be in the area warned to get out.

Firefighters in the southeast of the country have been struggling to contain raging bushfires, which have been burning for more than a week.

The Blue Mountains national park 50 miles west of Sydney has been one of the worst-affected areas.

More than 200 properties have been destroyed and one 63-year-old man lost his life, suffering a heart attack while trying to protect his home.

Bushfires have ripped through properties with devastating force

With strong winds and high temperatures set to return on Wednesday, firefighters are preparing to face an active fire edge nearly a mile long.

Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons warned: "This will be as bad as it gets.

"On days like tomorrow there's a very real potential for more loss of homes and life.

"It's a difficult, dynamic, dangerous fire ground situation."

The weather conditions will be worse than initially feared, leading to widespread extreme fire danger ratings.

Sky News spoke to Andrew and Tracy Curtis whose home was razed to the ground last week in the village of Winmalee.

The couple were both at work as their home burned - even Mrs Curtis's workplace was under threat from the flames.

"Tracy rang me to say, 'It's not looking good, I don't think I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna say goodbye, I love you'," said Mr Curtis.

Mrs Curtis explained how she thought the worst was going to happen.

"All I could see was just the flames around us - the embers coming towards the building. That's when I freaked," she said.

Fire crews on standby in the Blue Mountains, 50 miles west of Sydney

Thousands of firefighters and 90 aircraft are battling 57 fires, 17 of them uncontained, on the sixth day of the state's bushfire emergency.

Some light rain in the region has done little to ease the situation.

All Blue Mountains schools, pre-schools and childcare centres will be closed on Wednesday and some nursing homes are being evacuated.

Emergency Services Minister Michael Gallacher is telling parents to keep their children close.

"It's not a day off where mum and dad can let the kids out tomorrow into the community," he told parliament.

"We are asking parents or those who are guardians of children to keep those children under your care, under your direction tomorrow because the situation is so fluid."

The temperatures are expected to drop on Thursday, but a dry change will bring strong southwesterly winds of up to 50mph through the fire-affected areas.

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