The Gospers Mountain mega fire has been upgraded to emergency status. "Catastrophic fire conditions are as bad as it gets," NSW Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told journalists. Greater Sydney and two surrounding areas were rated as catastrophic for Saturday, and other areas were at extreme or very-high fire danger ratings. Close to 10,000 emergency personnel would be working across NSW on Saturday, which the NSW Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott said was likely the largest emergency deployment the state had ever seen. The Gospers Mountain mega fire, which has already burned almost 450,000ha to the northwest of Sydney was upgraded to emergency status early on Saturday.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 20, 2019 22:52 UTC