Three people are confirmed dead and more than 150 houses have been lost as firestorms raged from the New South Wales mid-north coast to the Queensland border.
As unprecedented blazes decimated small towns across NSW, Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned Australians to prepare for “worse news” to come.
Firefighters are only beginning to access areas hardest hit by the fires, with 72 fires currently ablaze, including in the tiny hamlets of Wytaliba near Glen Inness and Bobin near Taree.
Mr Morrison said army reservists could be deployed “if necessary” as emergency services continue to battle some 80 blazes across the state. About 40 are not contained.
“These fires will burn for some time,” he said at Kirribilli House.
On Sunday morning, 72 fires were burning across NSW, 36 of which were not under control.
There were two fires still at emergency warning alert level at Hillville near Taree and Cooperabung north of Port Macquarie, while 11 fires remain at a watch and act level.
The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) said it was likely to issue severe or extreme fire danger warnings from the Queensland border to areas south of Sydney, and the Central West in the coming days.
“Areas in the Sydney, Illawarra, Hunter and Central West, those areas are looking at getting extreme fire risks,” RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said on Sunday.
The RFS says Tuesday will likely see widespread severe and extreme fire danger from the Queensland border to the south coast and across the central west.
“Tuesday 12 November will be a dangerous day,” it tweeted.
“With so many fires already burning, homes and lives will be at risk.”
All seven people that were missing during Saturday’s fires have been accounted for, the RFS reported.
One of the bushfire victims was 69-year-old Wytaliba resident Vivian Chaplain. It’s been reported the other victim of Friday’s firestorm near Glen Innes was an elderly man.
A third person was confirmed dead late Saturday night after a body was discovered in a burnt-out home in the town of Johns River some 40 kilometres north of Taree on the mid-north coast.
The home belongs to a 63-year-old woman, although NSW Police say a post-mortem is needed to confirm the deceased’s identity.
Ms Chaplain was treated for burns before being transferred to a Sydney hospital where she later died. Friends have posted emotional tributes on social media.
A relative of Ms Chaplain told ABC she died while trying to protect her home north-west of Coffs Harbour on the NSW north coast.
Her daughter-in-law, Chrystal Harwood, said theMs Chaplain would be “greatly missed” by her two children and six grandchildren.
“She was a strong woman who died protecting the home and animals she loved,” she said.
“The loss of her has devastated our family, there was nothing we could do.
“She was stuck and we couldn’t get to her.”
The second victim was found in a burnt-out car on the same Kangawalla fire ground with police working to formally identify the body.
People had little more than the clothes they were wearing when they arrived at the evacuation centre at the Glen Innes showgrounds, local Red Cross coordinator Margaret Kiehne told AAP.
“The children arrived in school uniforms – some had no shoes, just shorts and shirts,” she said.
“When the first lot of children arrived they were very traumatised. When the second lot came it was very emotional. They saw their mates, ran to them and threw their arms around them.”
It’s thought some 20 properties were destroyed in Wytaliba with the local primary school severely damaged.
A third body was found in a burnt-out home north of Taree after fire ripped through the township of Johns River on Saturday afternoon.
The property belonged to a 63-year-old woman, NSW Police said.
MidCoast Council mayor David West cried as he spoke to worried residents – including parents, children and grandchildren – at a local evacuation centre where they’d fled from the blaze.
The retired policeman – who lives in Brimbin – said the fire was “a disaster of magnificent proportions”.
“It’s horrifying – to say it’s terrible doesn’t explain it enough,” he told AAP.
“To go into a room of a couple of hundred of people and talk to them, I’m sorry, I broke down and cried, you feel so helpless.”
BOM meteorologist Katarina Kovacevic says while temperatures were cooler on Saturday, southerly winds tending southwesterly in the afternoon gusted up to 50km/h.
Conditions are set to worsen early next week, Ms Kovacevic told ABC TV.
High temperatures combined with low relative humidity and strong northwesterly winds will increase the fire danger on Tuesday and Wednesday in northern NSW and southeast Queensland.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Saturday warned “we’re not through the worst of it”.
“The situation is very serious,” she said in a statement.
“People have lost their lives and seven people are currently unaccounted for.”
The premier has appointed a recovery coordinator to oversee the official response to the bushfire emergency and said she would make “every [resource] available” to firefighters this week.
Federal Minister for Resources and Disaster and Emergency Management David Littleproud said “immediate financial support” would be made available to northern NSW residents affected by the fires.
I just can’t explain how bad it was
For Douglas Wood, leaving his home was never an option. As yesterday’s ferocious fire approached his Bora Ridge property, the former Blue Mountains RFS group captain prepared himself to fight.
The 54-year-old told the ABC he managed to save his neighbour’s property — and his mum and dad’s house next door.
But as all this happened, he said he watched his own home go up in flames.
“We just did our best,” he said. “I just can’t explain how bad it was.
“I was just so intense. It was unbelievable.
“I have seen plenty of fires, and this is the worst I have seen in my life.”
The Bora Ridge fire, south-west of Lismore — which is now at a watch and act status — burnt through 794 hectares and destroyed multiple properties.
The RFS said many fires moved so quickly they were unable get to all those who called for help.
“We were on our own, [no] helicopters or anything,” Mr Wood said. “We saved Mum and Dad’s place so at least we have somewhere to stay.”
Mr Wood said he was now left with nothing more than the clothes on his back, and his car.
He said he was concerned they would not survive, but their bushfire plan saved them.
-With agencies
