[Velo]

While I appreciate some threads regarding the fires, the majority have just turned political and has steered away from;

• Expressing the actual magnitude of the fires
  
• Showing compassion for the affected communities
  
• Acknowledging the great efforts of volunteers & the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS)
  
• Promotion of how you can help out the RFS & affected communities
  

View active fires & burnt area

On 11 November, NSW is declared a state of emergency lasting for a period of 7 days due to fires.
More than 60 fires were threatening NSW and the Bureau of Meteorology had forecast “hot, dry and gusty winds” worsening the situation.
A declaration of catastrophic fire conditions was created in Sydney, this is the first time it has reached catastrophic since the creation of the scaling system.
A state-wide fire ban began.
Many of the initial fires were started by arsonists, a few confirmed cases included a 9 year old boy with a blowtorch and cigarette throwing.
On 11 December, the Rural Fire Service confirmed that 724 homes, 49 facilities and 1582 outbuildings have been destroyed and over 2,700,000 ha (6,700,000 acres) have been burnt.

On 19 December, a second state of emergency is declared for the next 7 days as fires worsen and temperatures rised drastically. According to BOM, Tuesday 17th of December was Australia's hottest day on record reaching a maximum average temperature of 41.9C (107.42F). This combined with more dry winds & lack of big rain pour in 2 months has lead to today as I am writing this;

• Severe drought throughout all states in Australia, including NSW where many water restrictions are in place
  
• Seven fires at emergency warning level
  
• Still over 100 fires, 50 of them still uncontained
  
• Total of seven deaths have been confirmed, also one man missing as of today (22nd Dec)
  
• Two firefighters have died from a falling tree landing in front of their firetruck, causing them to swerve off of the road and down a large pit. Many firefighters are injured
  
• Thousands of animals have died and our wildlife organisations are doing their best stabilizing hundreds of Koalas from severe burns
  
• Dangerous amounts of smoke & 'fire haze' throughout Sydney, it has been compared to smoking 32 cigarettes
  
• Well over 2,700,000 ha (6,700,000 acres) of land has been burnt, some size comparisons are:
  - Seven times the size of Singapore
  - Twice the size of Sydney
  - Bigger than Wales
  

Still a long way to go but we are extremely proud of our RFS team and volunteers for doing an amazing job ensuring everyone's safety and working non-stop throughout the Christmas holidays.

There is a lot more detail that I am missing in this post, but I hope you learned more about the situation with some of my points.

SOME MEDIA:
Satellite image (November)
Spoiler (Click to View)

Downwards view from plane
Spoiler (Click to View)

A huge wall of trees engulf in flames infront of firefighter very violently
Spoiler (Click to View)Video Here

Full gallery:
Spoiler (Click to View)Gallery Here
SUPPORT:
You can make donations direct to the NSW Royal Fire Service Here