Wildfire conditions ease as Australian PM returns home from holiday

A cool weather change came on Sunday before hotter conditions are expected to return next week

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

Fire conditions eased on some of the major fronts burning across Australia on Sunday after a cool weather change, with firefighters trying to contain blazes before hotter conditions are expected to return at the end of the week.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited the Rural Fire Service (RFS) headquarters in Sydney, having returned from a holiday in Hawaii on Saturday night that has drawn sharp criticism as the wildfires crisis in his home state deepened.

After the deaths of two firefighters on Thursday night, Mr Morrison announced he would return home early, and on Sunday he acknowledged his holiday had caused anxiety.

"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.

The intensity of fires eased overnight in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia states, where fires had been burning out of control on Friday and Saturday as a combination of extreme heat and strong winds had created "catastrophic" conditions in some areas.

"We have still got an enormous amount of fire burning in the landscape," NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said, adding that the spreading fires in the Blue Mountains area around 100 km (62 miles) west of Sydney would be a significant focus for fire crews.

"We've seen widespread damage and destruction being reported across a number of these fire grounds, and we've got impact assessment teams already deployed into the field this morning."

More than 105 fires were still burning across NSW on Sunday, with 59 considered uncontained, although none were burning at the emergency level that a number were classed at during Saturday's heat and wind.

One man is still unaccounted for after staying on Saturday to protect his property near Lithgow, a town west of Sydney, as fires approached. Dozens of properties were reported damaged or destroyed.

"Today is thankfully expected to be much cooler for large sections of NSW, which will be a welcome reprieve. However, many communities away from the coast will still experience significant heat," the Bureau of Meteorology said in a tweet.

Conditions are expected to remain favourable over coming days and firefighters will work to contain some of the firefronts near communities, particularly in the Blue Mountains region to the west of Sydney.

"This (fire) season is much more lengthened and has started a lot earlier, and there isn't the respite rains that we can expect any time soon, and that is making this season harder than many we have seen in a long time," Prime Minister Morrison said.

Australia has been fighting wildfires for months as hot, dry conditions created an early start to the fire season, with blazes destroying more than 700 homes and nearly 3 million acres (1.2 million hectares) of bushland.

Smoke from bushfires prompted match officials to abandon Saturday's Big Bash League cricket match in Canberra over what they called "dangerous and unreasonable playing conditions".