Three Killed, Over 150 Homes Destroyed as Wildfires Burn Across Eastern Australia

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Wildfires in Australia Turn Deadly

Meteorologist Heather Tesch says wildfires in New South Wales, Australia have killed several and destroyed many homes.

At a Glance

Firefighters were battling more than 70 blazes across eastern Australia.
The scope of the fires was "uncharted territory," fire officials said.
Strong winds were fanning the flames.
The fires have claimed three lives.

At least three people were killed, more than 30 injured and over 150 homes destroyed as a wave of wildfires swept across eastern Australia.

More than 80 wildfires were burning as of Saturday afternoon local time in New South Wales

, according to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. Three dozen of them were still uncontained.

NSW Fire Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said one woman died in a hospital after she was found unconscious with serious burns when her home was engulfed by flames in the town of Wytaliba, about 300 miles north-northeast of Sydney.

A second body was found in a burned-out car near Glen Innes from the same fire, while a third body was found in a charred building at Johns River, north of Taree, according to a statement from local police.

The remains of a property destroyed by fire is seen in Bobin, 350km north of Sydney on November 9, 2019, as firefighters try to contain dozens of out-of-control blazes that are raging in the state of New South Wales.
(Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images)

Around 50 wildfires were also burning in Queensland Saturday, where 6,000 residents were evacuated from three towns in southeast Queensland, local police told the Associated Press.

There were also multiple reports of people trapped in their homes in several locations because fire crews could not reach them due to the intensity of the fires, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

At least 150 homes were destroyed since Friday, with damage assessment teams yet to reach the most devastated areas.

Dry conditions and strong winds were fueling the blazes, the fire service said.

(MORE: Some 50 Million People Face Hunger Crisis Due to African Drought)

"We have never seen this many fires concurrently at emergency warning level," NSW Fire Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said, according to the Guardian. "We are in uncharted territory."

The fire service posted dramatic video on Thursday showing first responders making their way through the flames near Taree, about four hours north of Sydney.

A photo posted to Facebook showed flames close to a populated area.

While the threat appeared to be easing on Friday, authorities warned residents in affected areas to remain vigilant.

"We are still seeing erratic and dangerous fire behaviour across the remainder of fire grounds, which continues to pose a threat to homes

," the fire service tweeted.

One local official described the scene to the ABC.

"I'm looking out of my office window and all I see is what I'm assuming people in London saw during the Second World War – it's a horrible, horrible sight," Mid-Coast Council Mayor David West said.

Resident Jodie Sutor told the network that flames from a fire at Wardell, south of Ballina, reached her back fence and then jumped to her neighbor's roof.

"She started screaming 'It's on the roof,' so we ran out and that's when I noticed small spots out the front," Sutor said. "All out the backyard is burnt. Trees out the back are all up in flames. It's just so quick."