Firefighters across NSW remain on edge as several bushfires burn out of control in the state's north, with authorities issuing an emergency warning for a fire burning across almost 7000 hectares at Shark Creek.
The fire is burning in the Yuraygir National Park northeast of Grafton with crews backburning near properties in Angourie.
Conditions remain dangerous and locals may not be able to return to their homes, the RFS said in the warning to residents.
An evacuation centre has been established in nearby Yamba but the town could be threatened by a forecast southerly wind change.
"There is fire burning to the north and south of Angourie and Wooloweyah. The fire is impacting on the southern side of the villages," an RFS said at 4pm.
"A southerly change is forecast and this may push the fire towards Yamba."
Firefighters spent the weekend battling dozens of intense north NSW blazes, with watch and act alerts remaining in place for a fire at Drake near Tenterfield and another at Bees Nest near Armidale.
The Bees Nest fire has razed 63,000 hectares - twice the size of the Sydney city council area - while the fire at Drake has burnt almost 33,000 hectares.
More than 50 fires were burning across the state on Monday morning.
The RFS confirmed four homes had been destroyed in Drake, along with one Tenterfield home. A Lidsdale home and four Tenterfield homes were damaged, while 22 outbuildings, two car yards and a pistol club were razed in total.
"It's going to be another tough day for firefighters," RFS deputy commissioner Rob Rogers told ABC TV on Monday morning.
"These winds, coupled with the underlying drought affecting much of NSW, has made firefighting extremely difficult."
Armidale experienced early-morning winds of up to 40km/h and gusts of up to 60km/h pushing the Bees Nest blaze towards the northeast.
Crews have worked overnight with landholders to protect isolated properties in the area, while several tactical back-burns also have been conducted.
"Unfortunately, we think that the property loss will climb from what we understand lost so far, but it will take some time until crews can get in there and tally those costs," Mr Rogers said.
Armidale, Clarence Valley, Glen Innes, Inverell, Tenterfield, Uralla and Walcha local government areas have been declared natural disaster zones, allowing residents to access state and federal financial support.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison thanked firefighters in parliament on Monday and predicted a hot and dry summer in NSW and Queensland.
He encouraged those requiring support to contact authorities.
"Southern Queensland and northeastern NSW have experienced unprecedented fires since Friday," Mr Morrison said.
"Fortunately no lives were lost."
The Insurance Council also declared a catastrophe for bushfires that have destroyed homes or property in the state's north, giving priority to claims from affected policyholders.
Queensland police investigate illegal backburning
A Queensland man has been accused of back-burning without a permit after a fire he allegedly lit spread to nearby bushland in extremely dangerous bushfire conditions.
It is just one of several police investigations into fires across the state as emergency crews battle an unprecedented start to bushfire season.
The 63-year-old Lakes Creek man has been charged with lighting an unauthorised fire after allegedly back burning just outside the central Queensland city of Rockhampton on Sunday.
Police received reports about 1.45pm that a man was acting suspiciously.
He is expected to appear before Rockhampton Magistrates Court on 8 October.
Boys caught allegedly lighting fires
Boys who allegedly lit a fire on the Gold Coast amid widespread Queensland bushfires at the weekend have been caught by police and will face court.
A member of the public found a fire, which did not spread to bushland, in a stormwater drain in the suburb of Pimpama on Saturday afternoon.
Three boys, aged 9, 10 and 11, were arrested, and the two eldest will be dealt with under the Youth Justice Act.
Ballandean locals told to flee Queensland fire
Residents living around the small Queensland town of Ballandean are being told to evacuate as worsening conditions fuel yet another fire in the Granite Belt.
The blaze is moving in an easterly direction from the New England Highway towards Girraween.
An evacuation centre is open at the Ballandean Hall and Sports Club.
Ballandean is south of the border town of Stanthorpe, where crews have contained a fire that has so far burnt through about 2000 hectares of land.
That blaze is not threatening any homes but residents have been warned that strong winds are still making conditions volatile.
New South Wales Rural Fire Service firefighter is seen back burning in NSW. Source: AAP
Livestock could be lost
Queensland residents have been warned more properties could be lost and livestock losses will be significant as firefighters continue battling more than 65 fires across the state.
Residents have been forewarned about the destruction they could face after some homes were lost, while others have been told they can check on their pets and collect medication.
Officials have declared 47 homes across the state are either damaged or destroyed, including the historic Binna Burra Lodge in the Gold Coast hinterland.
Emergency Services Minister Craig Crawford said on Monday the emergency is far from over.
"I think we are through the worst of it, but we still have a couple of days to go before it really starts to cool down," he said.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) Large Air Tanker (LAT) dropping 15,000L of water over bushfires in Binna Burra, Queensland. Source: QFES
Early on Monday, the Gold Coast hinterland fire was burning on both sides of Binna Burra Rd, south of Summerville Rd, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said.
The fire is not threatening any homes but residents have been warned that strong winds are still making conditions volatile.
Crews have contained a fire around the Queensland border towns of Stanthorpe and Applethorpe, but they will be tested by dry winds.
"But again it's a very well resourced fire, and we are confident we will be able to hold that, and if there are any outbreaks we will be able to get onto those very quickly," Acting Fire Commissioner Mike Wassing said.
An exclusion zone remains in place, but some residents are starting to return to their homes to check the extent of the damage, with at least eight structures including three homes have been destroyed there.
One far north Queensland home was burnt down last week, and fires are now burning north of Rockhampton, another near Gympie and one west of Toowoomba, but no homes are under threat in those areas.
Fire bans remain in place across most of the state, which is tinder-dry.
A Canungra fire evacuee is comforted outside Moriarty Park Hall where they attended a community meeting about the fires in the region. Source: AAP
Federal Natural Disaster Minister David Littleproud said the drought had "exacerbated" the fires, saying he felt the force of the dry gusty winds when he spent the weekend at his home, 80 kilometres from Stanthorpe.
"We've had some rain that's created a fuel load there, that has exacerbated the problem there coupled with circumstances on Friday and Saturday that were beyond belief," he told Radio National on Monday.
"I could feel at my own home the winds and some gusts up to 100km/h... and the community of Stanthorpe and Applethorpe bore the brunt of that."
However, he refused to be drawn on whether human-induced climate change was also to blame.
A water tanker helicopter picks up water at Moriarty Park Hall in Canungra, Queensland. Source: AAP
'This is an omen'
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services predictive services inspector Andrew Sturgess said the state had never before seen such serious bushfire conditions, so early in spring.
"So this is an omen, if you will, a warning of the fire season that we are likely to see in southeastern parts of the state where most of the population is," he said on Sunday.
Acting Premier Jackie Trad said climate change meant the state was facing a new era of fire risks.
"There is no doubt that with an increasing temperature with climate change, then what the scientists tell us is that events such as these will be more frequent and they will be much more ferocious," she told reporters.
The Insurance Council of Australia has also declared the situation a "catastrophe", ensuring victims' claims will be given priority.
Volunteer hospitalised
A 66-year-old volunteer firefighter was on Friday hospitalised after his hands, arm, legs, back, face and airways were burned while he and a colleague fought a fire at Mount Mackenzie Road south of Tenterfield.
Neville Smith is in a critical but stable condition at Royal Brisbane Hospital.
Armidale, Clarence Valley, Glen Innes, Inverell, Tenterfield, Uralla and Walcha local government areas have been declared natural disaster zones, allowing residents to access state and federal financial support.
The Insurance Council also declared a catastrophe for bushfires that have destroyed homes or property in the state's north, giving priority to claims from affected policyholders.
For the latest updates and current alert levels please visit Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.
