As New South Wales braces for what could be the worst day yet for bushfires, more emergency services have been deployed than the Australian state has "ever seen". There was a catastrophic fire danger warning for Greater Sydney (including the Blue Mountains), the Illawarra / Shoalhaven and the Southern Ranges, which was the mountainous area between the Blue Mountains and the Snowy Mountains. NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said this was the "largest deployment of emergency services personnel this state's ever seen". NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner Paul Baxter said there had been 60,000 calls to emergency services since the start of the bushfire campaign. "Don't expect a fire truck to be there if you ring [emergency services on] triple zero and you're in a fire affected area already," Rogers said.

Source: Stuff December 20, 2019 22:35 UTC