Sydney seeks escape from heatwave as fires threaten

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Sydneysiders have flocked to beaches and pools to cool off on a sizzling summer’s day, as a heatwave stretching up the coast sparked dozens of bushfires and threatened to push temperatures even higher on Saturday.

Two bushfires reached the highest emergency levels on Friday afternoon, south of Bulahdelah on the Mid North Coast and at Beni, east of Dubbo in the state’s Central West.

A bushfire south of Bulahdelah has closed a 100-kilometre stretch of the Pacific Highway on the NSW Mid North Coast.

The Bulahdelah fire is not yet controlled but has grown to 1022 hectares in size, burning on both sides of the Pacific Highway and closing it in both directions for about 100 kilometres from Twelve Mile Creek to Nabiac.

Nearby residents have been warned to prepare, seek shelter or leave their properties.

NSW Rural Fire Service district manager Ugo Tolone told Nine News the fire “looks pretty bad at the moment”.

“It’s in thick, heavy, tea tree vegetation, which puts up a lot of smoke and runs very hard,” Tolone said.

The fire at Bulahdelah has been burning since Thursday.

“We’re doing everything we can to obviously make the footprint as small as possible.”

The Beni fire is burning across 159 hectares on both sides of the Golden Highway, and is not yet under control, with nearby residents warned to seek shelter as it is too late to leave.

The fire dropped back to a watch and act alert level after 3.30pm.

Another fire is burning at the watch and act level in Missions Gully in the Upper Hunter region, with firefighters working to control the fire across an area of more than 7000 hectares.

The fires come as a heatwave pushing temperatures well above average.

Sydneysiders descended on beaches and harbourside swim spots on Friday as the mercury reached 37.8 degrees in the city just before 1pm, cooling down to 32.7 degrees by 3pm.

Bankstown and Sydney Olympic Park hit 39 degrees on Friday afternoon, while temperatures passed 40 degrees at Penrith shortly before 3pm.

Keith Greenbank swelters outside his house in Penrith in 40-degree heat on Friday.

In the Hunter region, Cessnock neared 40 degrees on Friday, Newcastle passed 36 degrees, and on the Central Coast, Gosford hit 38 degrees. In the Riverina most locations hovered between 38 and 40 degrees.

Penrith’s famous “Pondi” beach will re-open on Saturday, a day ahead of its original schedule, when the mercury is expected to reach 41 degrees out west and 37 degrees near the harbour.

A total fire ban has been declared with extreme fire risk across much of the state on Saturday, including Sydney, the Hunter, Illawarra and Central West.

There is also a risk of damaging winds in the state’s south-east late on Saturday, bringing a cool change from the heatwave but threatening to stoke and spread bushfires.

The heat has already prompted races at Rosehill Gardens to be postponed until Sunday, while weekend cricket fixtures could begin earlier or later in the day to avoid the worst of the heat, depending on local conditions.

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