Under pressure Australia PM visits beleaguered firefighters

News of Scott Morrison's holiday prompted street protests and widespread criticism on social media

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media after touring the New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service (RFS) control room in Sydney. Amid mounting criticism, Mr Morrison apologised for taking a family holiday to Hawaii while bushfires ravaged the country. EPA

NSW Rural Fire Service crews fight the Gospers Mountain Fire as it impacts a property at Bilpin, in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Australia, 21 December 2019. EPA

A helicopter prepares to dump water on bushfires as they approach homes located on the outskirts of the town of Bargo on December 21, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. Getty Images

NSW Rural Fire Service crews fight the Gospers Mountain Fire as it impacts property at Bilpin, in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Australia, 21 December 2019. EPA

Prime Minister Scott Morrison talks to a volunteer at The Picton Evacuation Centre on December 22, 2019 in Picton, Australia. Getty Images

A property is lost as The Gospers Mountain Fire impacts, at Bilpin, in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 21 December 2019. EPA

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison listens to New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons during a tour of the NSW RFS control room in Sydney, Australia, 22 December 2019. EPA

An aircrewman monitoring the Tianjara fire from a helicopter in the Moreton and Jerrawangala National Park in Moreton. AFP PHOTO / AUSTRALIA DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE

Koalas sit inside a home in Cudlee Creek, South Australia, after being rescued from fires at a garden. Local firefighters assigned to protect a property from an approaching fire in South Australia on Friday helped a homeowner move koalas into her house to keep them safe from the flames. Adam Mudge via AP

Horsley Park brigade firefighters Geoffrey Keaton, 32, and Andrew O'Dwyer, 36, died when their truck overturned after a tree fell into their path as they were battling to contain a bushfire. EPA

A burnt bicycle lies on the ground in front of a house recently destroyed by bushfires on the outskirts of the town of Bargo. Getty Images

A resident uses a commercial watering machine to hose down his property as the Grose Valley Fire approaches Bilpin, New South Wales. EPA

A home stands as smoke from the Grose Valley fire rises in the distance in Bilpin, west of Sydney. Reuters

A firefighting helicopter in action as the Grose Valley Fire approaches Kurrajong Heights, NSW. EPA

The potential areas where bushfires may spread in New South Wales, Australia are illustrated in a map obtained from the NSW Rural Fire Service. Reuters

New South Wales Rural Fire Service officers watch as the Grose Valley Fire approaches Kurrajong Heights, NSW. EPA

A burnt-out car is seen on property razed by bushfires in Bargo, southwest of Sydney. AFP

Property owners use a commercial watering machine to hose down their property as the Grose Valley Fire approaches Bilpin, Australia. Reuters

Firemen inspect a house recently destroyed by bushfires on the outskirts of the town of Bargo. Getty Images

Volunteer firefighter Gary Stokes monitoring bushfires close to the residential area in Dargan, some 120 kilometres from Sydney. AFP

Firefighters rest at a house on Jacaranda Drive at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills in Adelaide. EPA

Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited firefighters battling Australia's bushfire crisis on Sunday as he apologised for a Hawaiian holiday that ended early after public outrage.

Mr Morrison toured the headquarters of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service - whose exhausted volunteers have been struggling to contain deadly, out-of-control-blazes for months on end - where he admitted he had erred in travelling overseas.

Mr Morrison had departed for a family holiday amid record bushfires that have destroyed an area the size of Belgium and cloaked major cities from Brisbane to Sydney to Canberra to Melbourne in choking toxic fumes.

"I get it that people would have been upset to know that I was holidaying with my family while their families were under great stress," he said.

"If you had your time over again and the benefit of hindsight we would have made different decisions."

News of his holiday prompted street protests and widespread criticism on social media, with Australians deploying the hashtag #WhereTheBloodyHellAreYa?

"I apologise," he said. "There have been lessons learned this week," adding that he believed it was time to move on from the controversy.

"I'm sure Australians are fair-minded and understand that when you make a promise to your kids, you try and keep it," the conservative leader said by way of explanation.

The embattled prime minister again acknowledged some link between climate change and weather patterns that scientists say has fuelled the fire crisis, but he indicated there would be no change in pro-coal policies.

Morrison also praised volunteer firefighters, who in the last 24 hours have faced catastrophic conditions brought by a record heatwave, gale-force winds and prolonged drought.

Australia's firefighting force is overwhelmingly made up of volunteers who have been strained by the intensity and the length of this year's fire season.

Conditions eased markedly on Sunday, giving them time to try to contain massive blazes near Sydney that are only likely to be extinguished with heavy rainfall.

Large scale back-burning is planned over the next few days before conditions are expected to worsen again in a week's time.

Rain is expected in some fire-hit areas of New South Wales on Tuesday and Wednesday, a welcome Christmas gift for many.

But firefighters are still measuring the toll of Saturday's destruction.

"We've seen widespread damage and destruction being reported across a number of these fire grounds," said New South Wales Rural Fire Services boss Shane Fitzsimmons, who earlier described Saturday as "an awful day".

"The devastation is shocking," said New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian. "We have got the devastating news that there's not much left in the town of Balmoral."

The state of South Australia has also been hit hard. Two people died in fires there over the past two days, and dozens of firefighters and residents have been treated for injuries and smoke inhalation.

State premier Steven Marshall said that 72 homes had been destroyed in the Adelaide Hills alone, according to public broadcaster ABC.

Officials said two fires - already big enough to create their own thunderstorms - had joined to form another "megafire" to the southwest of Sydney.

A fire-generated thunderstorm can occur when a smoke plume is cooled as it meets pressure in the atmosphere, creating a cloud capable of producing its own lightning and powerful winds.

The fires have torched at least three million hectares (7.4 million acres) of land with at least 10 people killed and more than 800 homes destroyed.

Leading doctors have warned of a public health emergency given the unprecedented toxic smoke choking Sydney, which again became a dense haze on Saturday.

"It is pretty much the whole New South Wales population being exposed to prolonged smoke and because we have never experienced this before, we don't know what the eventual outcome will be," doctor Kim Loo said.

"It probably won't be obvious for months, or even years," added Loo, who is also a member of advocacy group Doctors for the Environment.

Hospitals have recorded sharp increases in emergency room visits for heat exhaustion and respiratory problems.