Sydney bush fires.

The bush fires around Sydney are a problem. We are having 24 hour coverage on television here and tomorrow seems to be the worrying day. They are expecting high winds maybe up to 100km an hour and very high temperatures.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/bushfires/fears-grow-nsw-blue-mountains-bushfires-will-merge-and-form-a-mega-fire/story-fngw0i02-1226743664238

The newspaper says…….

“TWO major NSW bushfires have flared up again as firefighters brace for worsening conditions and try to halt the formation of a "mega-fire".

The blaze in the Springwood area of the Blue Mountains which last week destroyed 200 homes was this afternoon upgraded to emergency status.

And in the NSW Southern Highlands, a major fire that has been burning for days near Wollondilly was again upgraded and residents in the village of Wilton warned burning embers were blowing their way.

The new emergencies came as hundreds of firefighters resorted to “high-risk” back-burning strategies against the biggest of the bushfires, the State Mine blaze near Lithgow in the Blue Mountains.

The great fear is that at least three major fires in the Blue Mountains will merge and head toward's Sydney's western suburbs amid worsening conditions on Wednesday.”

Here are few pictures. The link will take you to a gallery of pictures. I think the real worry is that if the winds are strong enough it will take the fires right to the edge of Sydney city itself.

This is a great picture, the smoke coming over the city and harbour bridge.

I remember in years gone by when large fires were experienced in Australia the smoke took a few days to come right across to New Zealand. No doubt it will do the same with these fires. They expect them to burn for a long time even once they are under control.

The main problem has been lack of rain over the winter. It has been so dry. And it is the same here where we are house sitting. If a fire was to get out of hand here we would be in the same boat. It would engulf the area around where we are house sitting, and maybe go up Mount Tamborine where it is well populated. Care is needed.