A state of emergency has been declared in New South Wales, Australia, as bushfires rage unabated causing widespread devastation.
One man has been killed and more than 200 homes destroyed in the fires, which have now spiralled out of control.
There are fears that the three largest outbreaks could merge and threaten the state capital Sydney and its population of 4.6million.
The Blue Mountains, west of the city, have experienced the worst of the blazes, which state officials say have created the most dangerous conditions in 30 years.
Friends and relatives of the hundreds of people affected have rallied round to help them, with many elderly people now homeless after being in their houses for almost 50 years. One of the firefighters battling the inferno found out his own home, on the eastern edge of the mountains, had been destroyed while he was on duty.
Fire chiefs now fear that the three main blazes, two in the Blue Mountains and one near the town of Lithgow – could become one huge fire in the coming days, possibly threatening Sydney.
A spokesman for the fire service said: “We can understand the magnitude of that as it would then creep into the bottom end of Sydney. It’s certainly something that we’re very concerned about.”
Meanwhile, as the fires rage, debates about their cause have also boiled over, with a leading United Nations official claiming they are linked to climate change.