Sydney, All of the blazing bushfires in New South Wales (NSW) were now considered contained, fire officials in the Australian state said on Thursday.
“After what’s been a truly devastating fire season for both firefighters and resident, who’ve suffered so much this season, all fires are now contained in New South Wales,” the BBC quoted NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) Assistant Commissioner Rob Rogers as saying.
It is the first time in the fire season that containment, meaning firefighters managing to build a perimeter around the fire, so it cannot spread further, has been achieved.
While there was still some fire activity in the south of the state, said the RFS, emergency workers could now “really focus on helping people reboot”.
Across the country, fires have killed at least 33 people and destroyed thousands of homes since it first erupted in September 2019.
More than 11 million hectares of land, an area comparable to the size of England, has been affected across all states and territories.
NSW has been the worst-affected state. Two blazes alone – the Currowan and Gospers Mountain fires – each burned about 500,000 hectares.
But both were declared out after the record rainfall earlier this week, along with dozens of smaller fires, the BBC reported.
Flood warnings have been issued for NSW and for southern Queensland as Storm Uesi approaches, bringing winds of up to 130km/h.
