Fire crews in New South Wales today continued to battle “an enormous amount of fire” while their counterparts in South Australia assessed the aftermath of yesterday’s Adelaide Hills disaster.
Conditions have eased but the situation remains precarious. Here’s where things currently stand:
Authorities in SA say at least 72 homes were destroyed in the Cudlee Creek fires that devastated the Adelaide Hills.
A man who died in those blazes has been identified as Ron Selth, 69, whose home was razed last night.
Balmoral in the NSW Southern Highlands region has been decimated, with a blaze yesterday leaving behind “not much” of the 400 homes.
An elderly Lithgow man who was unaccounted for was found safe and sound today.
A second man, aged in his 60s or 70s, is missing from the rural village of Bell, near Lithgow, which was engulfed yesterday.
Weather conditions have eased, giving exhausted fireys in NSW a chance to catch up.
Scott Morrison toured the NSW Rural Fire Service headquarters and later travelled to evacuation centres after apologising again for his Hawaiian holiday.
Read on for all the latest news.
Updates
Teen activist Greta Thunberg weighs in on Australia's fire 'catastrophe'
Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg has commented on our bushfire crisis as parts of Australia continue to burn.
The 16-year-old is spending Christmas with her family but has been active on social media and continues to drum up support for more action on climate change.
Tonight, the teen turned her attention to Australia, which has been in the grips of its worst bushfire season for weeks now.
Retweeting a video from 9 News, Ms Thunberg said politicians were still failing to connect the world's climate crisis with extreme weather events.
The tweet has already garnered thousands of likes and retweets.
Not even catastrophes like these seem to bring any political action. How is this possible? Because we still fail to make the connection between the climate crisis and increased extreme weather events and nature disasters like the #AustraliaFires That's what has to change. Now. https://t.co/DQcZViKJQz
A firefighter has inadvertently caught the moment he saved his crew's life after a tree crashed down metres in front of them.
The RFS volunteer had sat a GoPro camera on the tanker's dashboard when the crew made their way back to Nerriga, on the NSW south coast, to protect property.
The footage showed the tanker speeding down a country road, with fire burning on both sides, when a tree falls and smashes onto the road.
The driver quickly slams on his brakes and swerves the vehicle away from the tree.
One of the crew members, who posted the video on Reddit, said the driver had "pulled off a great save".
Days ago, two RFS volunteers were tragically killed when their truck smashed into a fallen tree and rolled off the road.
Extent of SA bushfires revealed
The devastating aftermath of a ferocious bushfire that tore through the Adelaide hills yesterday is becoming painfully clear.
South Australian Premier Steven Marshall addressed the media moments ago to confirm that the number of homes destroyed in the Cudlee Creek blaze on Saturday has soared to 72.
"This is a very sad day for the people of South Australia as many return to their homes in the Adelaide Hills… and all they find is rubble," Mr Marshall said. "It's absolutely devastating."
The premier also confirmed that 404 outbuildings at properties and 227 vehicles have been destroyed.
A damage assessment is now taking place on Kangaroo Island, where it's believed some homes might have also been razed.
The Cudlee Creek blaze broke out on Friday and quickly spread out of control, keeping crews busy through Saturday.
The Adelaide Hills community is in mourning after the death of local engineer Ron Selth yesterday, who perished in a massive bushfire that tore through the region.
Police found Mr Selth’s body in his Charleston home, which was destroyed by the Cudlee Creek blaze that has scorched some 25,000 hectares of land in recent days.
“He will be remembered for his incredible, sometimes injury-causing hugs and will be deeply missed by his family and his many friends,” the 69-year-old’s family said in a statement.
“Some people give firm hugs – I don’t know what’s beyond firm, but that’s what Dad occasionally delivered. When he gave a hug, he meant it.”
PM meets with fireys' widows
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has met with the families of two rural firefighters who died while on the job in New South Wales on Thursday.
Horsley Park Brigade deputy captain Geoffrey Keaton, 32, and firefighter Andrew O’Dwyer, 36, were both killed when their tanker rolled due to a fallen tree.
The pair and their crew had been fighting a blaze in Sydney's southwest when the tragic accident occurred.
Mr Morrison spent time with this afternoon with Mr Keaton's wife Jess and Mr O'Dwyer's wife Melissa, their parents and their children.
The PM offered his condolences and offered comfort as they continue to reel from the shock loss.
Media were not advised of the meeting out of respect to the families.
Last week, NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said they were “well-respected” and from a “close-knit brigade”.
“Geoff has a young son Harvey, and Andrew has a young daughter Charlotte, and both of those children were born two days apart back in May so they’re 19 months of age, which just terrible.”
Albanese: PM 'chose to leave'
Anthony Albanese held a press conference earlier, and addressed Scott Morrison's return to Australia.
I think I detect a little escalation in his criticism of the Prime Minister, which has actually be quite restrained this week.
"I wouldn't have made the decision that he made to go. That is a matter for him and his family circumstances, and it is difficult. I haven't sought during this week to pass judgment on that, it's a matter for his judgment," Mr Albanese said.
"He chose to leave. He chose to also do it in a way that I think created a major issue of secrecy. This government has a real problem with being accountable with any scrutiny whatsoever.
"It is part of Mr Morrison's character that when asked a question, that's just a straight question, he dismisses it, or he prevaricates, he speaks about the 'bubble', or he says it's just gossip. And he won't provide answers to simple questions."
He did make a point of thanking Natural Disaster Minister David Littleproud for briefing Labor thoroughly and keeping it up to date with the latest developments.
Another man unaccounted for
NSW Police report a man in his 60s or 70s is missing from the remote village of Bell, near Lithgow. The area was engulfed in fire yesterday.
"He may have self-evacuated or went to stay with friends, and we want the public to let us know any information they have to assist us to locate this missing person," NSW Police Chief Inspector told AAP.
It follows the more welcome news that an elderly man from Dargan, also near Lithgow, was found today after being unaccounted for overnight.
The man was found at an evacuation centre in Lithgow.
Look who it is
Spotted out and about – former prime minister Tony Abbott, who has of course been a volunteer firefighter for many years.
This photo was posted on the NSW Police Force's highway patrol Facebook page.
They're loving him in the comments section. Here are some samples.
"Tony's a legend," says Meredith Whitton.
"When a PM that got kicked out is doing more work than our current one," says Stefano Lambrou.
"Never liked the man as PM but have to say he is certainly a person of great character and a real man. Walk the walk, talk the talk," says Lanie Gollan.
"Suddenly everyone is loving on Tony again. Nobody cared when he was doing this as PM. Go get them Tony," says Bec Mair.
And finally, "Tony for PM!" says Chris Roberts.
Smoke descends on Brisbane, Adelaide
Fires in NSW are causing a smoky haze across Queensland where firefighters are facing another day of severe fire danger.
The smoke’s reach is incredibly extensive, says Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jess Gardner.
“You can see the smoke on the satellite images, certainly across the majority of Queensland and I think it’s crossing most of Australia,” she said.
Southeast Queensland was forecast to reach the peak of its current heatwave conditions.
Temperatures around the coast were expected to reach the low 30s, while west of Brisbane, around Ipswich and Gatton would see high 30s.
Parts of western Queensland would reach temperatures in the low to mid 40s, Ms Gardner said.
About 60 fires are burning within containment lines across the state on Sunday, with no significant fires of concern to authorities.
There are severe fire conditions in the Central Highlands and Coalfields and Upper Flinders region in central Queensland.
The hot conditions are expected to continue, but there’s an good chance of showers and storms from Christmas Eve.
The falls could bring up to 50mm of rain in parts of southeast Queensland over two days before easing on Boxing Day.
“For the southeast we could certainly see a bit of a wet Christmas which is definitely a good thing for most people but further out west it will be pretty warm and dry,” Ms Gardner said.
Meanwhile, smoke from the Adelaide Hills bushfire has dropped the city’s air quality rating to poor.
The Environment Protection Authority says air quality readings are improving but parts of the hills and metropolitan area remain affected by bushfire smoke.
The situation on Sunday was further exacerbated by an early morning temperature inversion layer which kept smoke low to the ground.
The EPA said anyone with health issues or concerns should stay inside with windows and doors closed.
A watch and act warning remains in place for the blaze, with the Country Fire Service reporting some renewed fire activity within the 127km perimeter.
The fire has burnt through more than 25,000 hectares and destroyed at least 15 homes.
Before it was sparked on Friday, the Bureau of Meteorology also reported that smoke from the NSW bushfires had made its way to Adelaide.
– AAP
Pictures: The view from Brisbane's Mt Cootha lookout. Images by Annette Drew
Fire victim's selfless reaction
Here is some compelling supporting evidence for what the Prime Minister has been saying about Australians' kindness and selflessness during times of crisis.
A Woodside resident who lost property and possessions in the bushfire has set up in the centre of town, offering free hay to those worse off.
He says his done crying, and wants to help however he can. @abcadelaide
