This archive report was first published on 8 November 2019.
Published on November 8, 2019, a devastating bushfire season gripped Australia's east, with more than 90 blazes tearing through tens of thousands of hectares in New South Wales.
"We are in uncharted territory," New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons warned, as the state faced an unprecedented number of fires at emergency warning level.
With 50 of the blazes uncontained, authorities scrambled to respond to the crisis, breaching containment lines and forcing the closure of the Pacific Highway linking Sydney and Brisbane in two places.
Emergency warnings were issued for 14 flashpoints, prompting residents to evacuate immediately, while others were told to seek shelter as it was too late to leave.
As the situation continued to deteriorate, local radio stations suspended normal programming to provide critical instructions on how to survive the fires if trapped at home or in a vehicle.
The prolonged drought, strong winds, low humidity, and high temperatures had created a tinderbox landscape, with Commissioner Fitzsimmons describing the circumstances as "very dynamic, volatile, and dangerous".
