Australia fires force residents to flee

Firefighters in Australia are battling new bushfires that have broken out.

At least 65 fires have spread across the state of New South Wales (NSW) with 18 of them uncontained as warnings were issued for people to leave their homes or be extra vigilant.

Fires also broke out at Minmi near Newcastle, north of Sydney, which was deemed an "emergency" as it closed the main freeway that links the two cities and sparked traffic chaos.

"If you are in Minmi, follow your survival plan. If your plan is to leave, leave now," the RFS said.

Another blaze at Colo, to the northwest of Sydney, was burning aggressively with water-bombing aircraft attempting to bring it under control, although the high winds were hampering the effort.

"It's a very fluid situation. It's a very dynamic situation," said the fire chief.

So far more than 120,000 hectares (296,500 acres) of land has been burned across the state and more than 200 homes destroyed.

Only one person has died as residents heed advice to either flee or head to evacuation centres.

Temperatures were in the mid-30 degrees Celsius range on Wednesday, which combined with low humidity and expected winds of up to 100 kilometres (62 miles) per hour, the fire chief called the conditions "as bad as it gets".