File:Fires in New South Wales (MODIS 2019-11-12).jpg

English: In November 2019, destructive bushfires raged near the coast of New South Wales, Australia, sending smoke billowing over the Tasman Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of the smoke plumes on November 7.

Fires that day burned from north of Sydney to near the border with Queensland. According to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, 29 of the 69 fires burning across the state remained uncontrolled. By November 11, the situation had worsened, with more than 120 fires reported burning across New South Wales and Queensland. Three people have reported to have died due to the fires, and thousands have been displaced. According to BBC News, the blazes have scorched 970,000 hectares of land and destroyed 150 houses in New South Wales and 9 homes in Queensland.

Extreme fire weather has been spurring fire growth and making firefighting difficult across the region. New South Wales Rural Fire Service warns that weather will become even more favorable for fire growth, and states that on November 12 the fires located from South West Rocks to Laurieton (called the Mid North Coast Fires) are likely to spread quickly towards the coast. Worsening weather conditions across the state on that date will cause “severe, extreme, catastrophic fire danger” in many locations.