State of emergency declared as bushfires rage in Australia

A state of emergency was declared in Australia's most populated region on Thursday, as a record heat wave fanned unprecedented bushfires.

About 100 fires have been burning for weeks in drought-plagued New South Wales (NSW) with half of them uncontained, including a "mega-blaze" ringing Sydney, covering Australia's biggest city in a haze of toxic smoke.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the seven-day state of emergency, the second declared in the state since the bushfire season began early in September, was due to "catastrophic weather conditions".

Temperatures are expected to near 50 degrees celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in South Australia and peak at 45 degrees in the western suburbs of Sydney, while turbulent winds of up to 100 kilometres (60 miles) are expected to fan bushfires burning ever-closer to the city.

The country experienced its hottest day on record Tuesday, with the average nationwide temperatures reaching 40.9 degrees Celsius (105.6 degrees Fahrenheit), which is expected to be surpassed as an intensifying heat wave spreads across the country.

The heatwave is another alarm bell about global warming in Australia, where this year's early and intense start to summer bushfires has heaped pressure on the government to do more to tackle climate change.

There were 2,000 firefighters battling the blazes Thursday, with the support of small US and Canadian teams, as well as Australia Defence Force personnel.

New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said five 100-person "strike teams" were on standby to deploy to the most dangerous fires give the "enormity of some of these fire complexities and the severity of the forecast weather conditions".

"The worst of the fire weather conditions, the extreme fire danger ratings we are expecting today, are centred around the greater Sydney environment," he added.

At Buxton, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) southwest of Sydney, longtime resident Paul Collins said a nearby bushfire that had destroyed properties was "much worse" than in past years.

"It's spread faster with the wind, and the bush and the ground is just so dry," he told AFP, blaming climate change and the drought for the worsening fires.

"It's just a horrendous situation, really."