The Bureau of Meteorology says we have to swelter through another hot day on Saturday
NSW is expected to get some reprieve from the heat heading into Christmas - but first the state must endure another "dangerously hot" day across coastal areas.
The Bureau of Meteorology warns that Saturday could be even hotter than Thursday, when two firefighters were killed and several others hospitalised.
BOM acting NSW manager Jane Golding said temperatures would again rise into the mid-40s, with Penrith expecting a maximum of 47 degrees and coastal areas hitting the mid-to-high 30s.
"That's dangerously hot weather," she said.
A gusty cool change is also expected on Saturday, which will bring some relief from the heat for central and southern NSW but create dangerous conditions on the waterways and challenging fire conditions.
Almost 70 fires are now burning across Queensland, jumping from 55 yesterday.
Crews are braced for challenging conditions as a strong upper ridge sweeping across the southeast combines with fresh east northeasterly winds today.
The volatile conditions have prompted the weather bureau to reissue a severe fire warning for the Darling Downs and Granite Belt, Central Highlands and Coalfields, and the eastern parts of the Warrego and Maranoa districts.
Areas of localised severe fire dangers are also in place for the eastern parts of the Central West district.
The Bureau of Meteorology has delivered a sleepless forecast for next week's Sydney to Hobart, as crews brace for some of the most challenging conditions in years.
Officials say they have contingency plans in place to combat Sydney's smoky haze while uncertain winds have skippers tipping one of the more unpredictable races.
"Navigators are going to be up all night. It's going to be a very tactical race," Adrienne Cahalan, skipper of the 62-footer Chinese Whisper, said.
Geoffrey Keaton, 32, joined the NSW Rural Fire Service in 2006 and was the deputy captain of the Horsley Park Rural Fire Brigade and a former member of the Plumpton Brigade.
Andrew O’Dwyer, 36, joined in 2003 and was also a member of the Horsley Park Brigade.
Geoff and his partner Jess have a son, Harvey, and Andrew has a daughter, Charlotte, with his partner Mel.
Both children are 19 months old and were born within two days of each other.
“They are at a loss,” NSW RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said of the pair’s families.”They’re in extraordinary shock and natural despair at the enormity of what’s confronting them and to try and comprehend the tragedy.”
Geoff and Andrew were travelling in a truck convoy near the town of Buxton southwest of Sydney late last night when a tree fell, causing the tanker to roll off the road. Both were killed.
Three other firefighters were injured but managed to free themselves from the wreckage and were later taken to hospital.
The deaths have shocked the NSW RFS “to the core”, Mr Fitzsimmons said.
“They’re ordinary, everyday individuals – like you and I – that go out and simply want to serve and protect and make a difference in their local community and they don’t ever go out in the knowledge that they might not come home from that shift,” he said.
The South Australian Country Fire Service says the blaze near Cudlee Creek is an immediate threat to lives and homes.
The fire is burning uncontrolled in grassland and firefighters are unable to stop it spreading.
The South Australian Country Fire Service says the blaze near Cudlee Creek is an immediate threat to lives and homes.
The fire is burning uncontrolled in grassland and firefighters are unable to stop it spreading.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese says the firefighters have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to their community and deserve an equal commitment back.
"We need to do more to make sure that people aren't out of pocket, that they're not in a position of choosing whether to go out on another run, or whether to have to go to work and provide for their family," he said.