【1992 Archives】

Devastating photos give a small insight into the impact of catastrophic bushfires currently raging across Australia's eastern state of New South Wales.

On Monday992 Archives a state of emergency was declared for the state, with high temperatures, strong winds and low humidity contributing to a "catastrophic fire danger" forecast for the Greater Sydney, Greater Hunter and Illawarra Shoalhaven areas. Officials reportthree people killed, at least 150 homes destroyed, and thousands forced to evacuate.

As of Tuesday, there have been over 300 new fires across the state, with 70 still burning and half of these not yet controlled. According to the NSW Rural Fire Service, five fires are still at emergency alert level.

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AFP reports that experts have described the conditions as the worst ever recorded. Across the state of NSW, which has long experienced extreme drought conditions, winds have hit speeds of 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour, while temperatures have reached up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) — a deadly combination.

Nearer to the state capital of Sydney, bushfires have reached 17 kilometres of the city centre, with streets, homes, and cars in suburbs like South Turramurra covered in bright pink flame retardant.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's current affairs program 7:30, the fires across northern NSW have so far burned more than 850,000 hectares— that's almost double that of the Black Saturday bushfires across Victoria in 2009. The program analysed fire warning data between 1973 and 2010, and found that bushfire conditions have indeed gotten worse in these areas across Australia.

Here are a collection of photos that illustrate a small portion of the impact of these catastrophic bushfires, although the lasting effects can't really be captured in one frame.

Firefighters try to save houses from an encroaching bushfire at Lakes Way on the Mid North Coast of NSW, Nov. 8, 2019. Credit: Dean Sewell /The Sydney Morning Herald via Getty Images A fire rages in Bobin, 350 kilometres north of Sydney on Nov. 9, 2019. Credit: PETER PARKS / AFP) (Photo by PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images A bushfire breaks containment lines, crosses the Pacific Highway and burns through properties in the township of Rainbow Flat on the Mid North Coast of NSW, Nov. 9. Credit: Photo by Dean Sewell /The Sydney Morning Herald via Getty Images Trees are burned black after a bushfire in Old Bar, 350 kilometres north of Sydney on Nov. 10. Credit: PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images A white horse trots on the field where a farmhouse was burnt by bushfires near Port Macquarie on Nov. 11,. Credit: Bai Xuefei/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei via Getty Images Aerial photo taken on Nov. 11 shows burnt bushes near Port Macquarie. Credit: Xinhua/Bai Xuefei via Getty Images A burnt-out vehicle sits by the roadside after fires swept through bushland and properties near Macksville on the Mid North Coast of NSW, Nov. 11. Credit: Wolter Peeters/The Sydney Morning Herald via Getty Images A motorbike lies burnt on the road after fires swept through bushland and properties near Macksville on Nov. 11. Credit: Wolter Peeters/The Sydney Morning Herald via Getty Images The remains of a house are seen after a bushfire destroyed a property in Old Bar, 350 kilometres north of Sydney on Nov. 10. Credit: PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images Art Murphy (R) and his wife Shirley look at a burnt-out section of their property which was caught in bushfires in Old Bar, 350 kilometres north of Sydney on Nov. 11. Credit: PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images Residents take refuge at a local club in Taree, 350 kilometres north of Sydney on Nov. 9. Credit: PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images A firefighter defends a property from a bushfire at Hillville near Taree, on Nov. 12. Credit: PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images A bushfire burns outside a property near Taree on Nov. 12. Credit: PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images A car sprayed with fire retardant is seen after a bushfire in the residential area of Sydney on Nov. 12. Credit: SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images

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