Winds fan ferocious fires in Australia’s most populous state

Ferocious wildfires were burning at emergency-level intensity across Australia’s most populous state and into Sydney’s suburbs on Tuesday as authorities warned most people in their paths that there was no longer time to flee.

New South Wales state is under a weeklong state of emergency, a declaration that gives the Rural Fire Service sweeping powers to control resources and direct other government agencies in its efforts to battle fires. The worst fires on Tuesday emerged in the state’s northeast, where three people have died and more than 150 homes have been destroyed since Friday.

A catastrophic fire warning was in place for Sydney, Australia’s largest city, where a large blaze threatened homes on Tuesday afternoon in northern suburban Turramurra, 17 kilometers (11 miles) from the city’s downtown area.

A firefighter suffered a fractured arm and ribs before the fire was rapidly contained with the aid of a jet dumping fire retardant and a helicopter dropping water, officials said. Turramurra residents reported trees catching fire in their backyards from embers.

Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said many people had heeded his warning and evacuated their homes in the danger zone well ahead of the escalating fire threat on Tuesday.

“We’ve got very tight, winding roads into a lot of these areas, which is why we talked about leaving early as the safest option,” Fitzsimmons told reporters.

“The last thing we want to do is be managing mass evacuations in pretty difficult to access areas and running the risk of having a whole bunch of congested roadways and seeing people incinerated in their cars,” he added.

Of 85 fires burning across New South Wales, 14 were rated as emergencies and burning out of control by late afternoon, the Rural Fire Service said. That’s the largest number across the state in