Home alight at Northmead amid heatwave after Sydney endures hottest night in 53 years

Fire crews are battling to save a home that erupted into flames as bushfire menaces Northmead in record-breaking heat.

Fire crews are battling to save a home that erupted into flames after a previously out-of-control bushfire raged through Northmead in Sydney’s west on Sunday afternoon.

Waterbombing aircraft have been drawing water from nearby Lake Parramatta to try and extinguish the blaze as gusty westerly winds sweep across the city in severe heatwave conditions.

NSW Rural Fire Service spokesman Greg Allan said firefighters were desperately working to save the home on Whitehaven Road which was being consumed by flames.

The full extent of damage is not yet clear, he said.

Firefighters on scene of a bush fire at Northmead. Picture: Seven News

Families were preparing to evacuate their homes before the immediate threat to more property had eased and the alert level was downgraded to Advice about 3pm.

“Firefighters and aircraft have been working in difficult conditions to contain the fire at Whitehaven Road, Northmead,” NSW RFS said in a statement.

“The immediate threat has eased. One property has been damaged by fire. Crews remain on scene working to fully contain the fire.”

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Firefighters and aircraft have been working in difficult conditions to contain the fire at Whitehaven Road, Northmead. The immediate threat has eased. One property has been damaged by fire. Crews remain on scene working to fully contain the fire. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/evqUL6k7ue

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) November 29, 2020

Extreme heat

It comes amid a record-breaking heatwave which saw Sydneysiders endure the hottest November night since 1967, on Saturday night. The did not dip south of 25.3C.

Sydney woke to temperatures already at 30C on Sunday, and the extreme heat continued throughout Sunday, with sky high temperatures from the CBD to Penrith, and hot, gusting winds offering no relief.

Mid-afternoon on Sunday the temperature again rose above 40C in some areas.

Respite is still hours away, a gusty southerly not expected to bring the cool until this afternoon.

“Last night’s minimum went down to 25.3 degrees at Observatory Hill,” meteorologist Helen Kirkup told NCA NewsWire.

“Previously the highest November night on temperature was 24.8 degrees, which was in 1967.”

Going to be hot & awful for a lot of people tonight. One thing that distinguishes a #Heatwave from a regular run of hot days is MINIMUM temps. Tonight #Sydney is unlikely to get below 25 degrees #Dubbo 26 #Cobar 30 #Gosford 25 #Tibooburra 30 #Canberra 20 https://t.co/bkCiOwejkw pic.twitter.com/1EzlMDml6F

— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) November 28, 2020

For Sunday, she said, the prediction is: “Just hot. Really hot.”

The warm north-westerly wind will stick around and likely see the CBD hit 40C and Penrith 42C.

A cool southerly is expected to blow in between 2pm and 5pm, making for a far more comfortable evening.

Northeastern NSW is also facing a sweltering day, with Grafton expected to hit 42C and Taree 41C.

“If you drew a line from Dubbo across to Tibooburra, everything above that is likely to get well over 40 today,” Ms Kirkup said.

The southern part of NSW, in particular the Riverina, suffered yesterday but is not expected to get as hot today.

“Along the Victorian border we’re looking at high 20s, low 30s, and that’s because that wind change will come through this morning,” Ms Kirkup said.

Saturday saw extraordinary temperatures across Australia.

Bright orange colours on the infrared #satellite image show just how hot it was across #Australia on Saturday afternoon 🌡️

47.5°C Marree, SA
47.4°C Roxby Downs, SA
46.4°C Birdsville, Qld
46.2°C Fowlers Gap, NSW
45.7°C Mildura, Vic
45.5°C Hay, NSW
43.0°C Sydney Airport, NSW pic.twitter.com/D3Boledt3X

— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) November 28, 2020

Marree in South Australia hit a deeply uncomfortable 47.5C, Queensland’s Birdsville 46.4C and Fowlers Gap in NSW was 46.2C.

NewsWire