Hundreds of Australian firefighters were mobilized on Tuesday in New South Wales state, where Sydney is located, to battle nearly 70 wildfires that have left one person dead and threatened many homes.
The body of a 56-year-old man was discovered by police in Temagog, a village north of Sydney, ravaged by fire on Monday night.
Dozens of homes remain threatened by the fire, which has already destroyed more than 10,000 hectares, New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Rob Rogers said.
The fire is expected to last until next weekend due to rising temperatures, Mr Rogers warned.
“Although the danger in this area has decreased, there are still many fires and they are still very active,” he continued.
Experts expect Australia’s fire season to be the most intense since the “black summer” of 2019-2020, when huge, out-of-control fires raged across this part of the vast island continent.
Since then, conditions have been unusually wet, helping trees grow faster and increasing the amount of potential fuel to fuel fires.
In September, the Australian Meteorological Office announced the emergence of the El Niño phenomenon, generally associated with rising temperatures and severe droughts that could lead to devastating wildfires.