NSW; Firefighters focus on southern fronts ahead of wind change
SYDNEY, Dec 7 AAP - Firefighters were braced for tomorrow's predicted high temperaturesand a "troublesome" wind change, Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg said today.
Mr Koperberg said it would not be possible for firefighters to mop up the more than80 bushfires currently burning across NSW before temperatures rose and winds picked upfrom the northwest.
"All of the incident controllers are very conscious of the fact that they don't havea lot of time to consolidate their efforts of the last 72 hours," Mr Koperberg told SkyNews.
"Northerly winds (are) being predicted for tomorrow and temperatures, at least aroundSydney, in the low to mid-30s and very, very low humidity are going to be very troublesome,"
he said.
"The emphasis is going to be on containing as much of the southern sides of the 80or so fires we've got around the state before the onset of less-than-helpful conditionstomorrow," he said.
Mr Koperberg said today's weather conditions - temperatures in the mid-20s and lightbreezes - had assisted the more than 4,500 firefighters working to control the bushfiresraging to the north, south and west of Sydney and elsewhere in the state.
"That's fine and very useful for the containment strategies," he said.
However, Sunday would bring with it rising temperatures and strengthening winds fromthe northwest, he said.
"It won't physically be possible to have mopped-up all the fires that we currentlyhave burning (by then)," Mr Koperberg said.
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KEYWORD: BUSHFIRES NSW CHIEF
