Bushfires: Death toll rises as remains found in burnt out Moruya home

NSW police have confirmed another bushfire death after remains were found in a burnt house near Moruya.

NSW Rural Fire Service firefighters battle a blaze at a property in Moruya, where NSW Police have found the remains of a person. Picture: Getty Images

Tragedy has struck again after police revealed another bushfire death on NSW’s south coast on Friday, bringing the country’s death toll to 33 this fire season.

Officers found human remains on Friday morning when searching a burnt-out home in Bodella near Moruya after concerns were raised by neighbours for the 59-year-old man who lived there.

The remains have not been formally identified but police believe they are of the occupant.

The man’s house was hit by reignited south coast bushfires on Thursday that destroyed more than 50 properties and caused an accident where six firefighters were injured ­battling a blaze at Clyde Mountain near Mogo when their truck rolled.

Three of the firefighters were released from hospital on Friday but the others remain in hospital with minor injuries.

Undeterred, firefighters will take advantage of easing conditions over the long weekend, working to beat back fires and clean up after the storms that lashed NSW and Victoria this week.

NSW Rural Fire Service spokeswoman Angela Burford said about 1400 personnel would work through to the other side of Australia Day, even though ­morale had been hit by the death and injury of colleagues through the crisis.

“It’s taken a significant toll on the RFS family and the wider fire-fighting family globally but we have to get on with the job of ­battling these blazes,” she said.

“We don’t know how many more homes have been lost on the south coast but we will take advantage of favourable conditions, including an easterly wind change, rainfall and increased humidity.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said a state memorial service would be held for the firefighters who died during the fire season, saying they had made the “ultimate sacrifice”.

The service will be held at the Qudos Bank Arena at Sydney Olympic Park on February 23.

There were 63 fires burning in the state on Friday night, a significant drop from the 84 that flared amid high temperatures on Thursday. The Bureau of Meteorology predicted NSW’s average temperatures would drop to the mid- to high-20s at the weekend, with an even chance for rain and storms on the state’s north and south coasts.

Despite the welcome change, Ms Burford said the RFS expected conditions to flare again next week. “The fire season is not over yet, everyone must remain vigilant,” she said.

Her words were echoed by NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott, who said the past few months had been the “darkest summer” in the state’s history. “I’m hoping we don’t have a repeat next year, or the year after or for the next 10 years, but the reality is we probably will,” he said.

Forty-three US firefighters ­arrived in Victoria on Friday to help local volunteers over the long weekend.