Police have confirmed a father and son have died trying to defend their home from the devastating Cobargo fire that almost completely destroyed the historic NSW village.
Fire is also bearing down on Batemans Bay, on the NSW South Coast, with the town now cut off from the outside.
The Prime Minister paid tribute to volunteer firefighter Samuel McPaul, 28, who was killed when the Rural Fire Service truck he was in was hit by ferocious winds outside of Albury in the south of NSW.
Out-of-control fires are blazing in three states, with conditions set to worsen in some regions.
Follow our live blog on NSW’s bushfires below for updates throughout the day.
Read more here for updates on Victoria’s fires.
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NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed two people have died in bushfires that devastated the village of Cobargo earlier today.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboy confirmed the two people who died were a father and son trying to defend their home from the Badja Forest Rd fire.
"The two men at Cobargo are residents of Cobargo. A father and son, as we believe. Very tragic set of circumstances. Obviously trying to do their best with the fire as it came through in the early hours of the morning," he said.
Mr Worboy said police were still trying to make their way to a home west of Narooma where a man was also defending his home.
"Unfortunately we think that the news there will not be good either," he said.
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons earlier said there were fears for two people missing but the situation had been too dangerous for police to investigate.
Photos of the main street of Cobargo, which used to be lined by historic, turn-of-the-century buildings, appear to show it completely razed.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsHow about these stunning before and after shots of Cobargo in NSW? pic.twitter.com/WNc7DRLpQs
— Clayton Goode (@clayton_goode) December 31, 2019
There are reports the local school has been destroyed as well as disinfection infrastructure within the Brogo River water supply catchment.
Residents in Quaama, Cobargo, Bermagui, Beauty Point, Fairhaven, Wallaga Lake, Wallaga Lake Heights, Wallaga Lake Koori Village, Akolele are advised to boil their water.
Cobargo, to the west of Bermagui, has been on fire for much of today, with multiple buildings on the main street on fire and RFS crews struggling to save properties.
The town was evacuated earlier today.
The fire affecting Cobargo is the Badja Forest Rd fire near Cooma, which is rapidly moving eastward and was predicted to be among the blazes to expand most significantly, along with a fire in the Snowy Valleys. Almost 100 blazes continue to burn across NSW, with dozens uncontained and eight today at “emergency” level.
Pyro-cumulonimbus – a fire-generated thunderstorm – has formed above the Currowan fire on the state's South Coast.
An emergency warning was issued for the massive 227,000 hectare fire, in the Shoalhaven region of NSW, just before 2pm but the storm is likely to make things worse.
There are also fears the southerly wind change will push the fire towards the Shoalhaven River in Nowra.
The huge fire is already burning between Nowra in the north, Braidwood in the west, and Batemans Bay in the south.
There has been a significant increase in fire activity south of the Kings Highway to the west of Nelligen.
The fire earlier merged with the Tianjara fire in the Morton National Park to the south west of Nowra.
Batemans Bay on NSW's South Coast is one of the many places across the state to lose power today.
More than 35,000 people will be without power for New Year's Eve as fires rage and destroy powerlines.
The number of people without power has doubled in five hours after 18,000 people were reported as being in black out at 9.30am this morning.
"We currently have over 35,000 customers without supply across our network, the majority being located in South Eastern NSW due to the ongoing fire situation," Essential Energy said.
"For safety reasons we will not be able to access many areas impacted by fire until the danger has passed and its deemed safe. Customers may experience extended periods without power.
"We have team members within Emergency Operations Centres which will allow us to plan our response.
"Once we are able to access impacted areas we will be in a position to evaluate the damage and commence repairs as quickly as safety permits. We will provide updates via social media as additional information comes to hand.
"Our thoughts go out to those impacted by these devastating fires, please stay safe and continue to monitor the ongoing situation."
RFS District Manager Superintendent Patrick Westwood has held back tears as he paid tribute to Samuel McPaul, the 28-year-old volunteer killed fighting fires in Jingelic last night.
"Samuel leaves behind a family that is now without a father and a husband," Mr Westwood said.
"Our condolences from the service and the wider community are with the family at the moment as I'm sure is the state and the country at the moment.
"Sam was a 28-year-old firefighter that joined with us. He was trained and doing everything right on the day when something went wrong and it's just incredibly unfortunate what happened.
"The driver was a veteran captain, with 35 years-plus experience. After speaking with him in hospital last night, he said the ground he was on was safe.
"He thought he was in the right spot, as he was, from what I can understand and this freakish weather event, that would have to be seen to be believed and even then there's veteran firefighters who don't believe what they saw, engulf that vehicle with flame, fire and strong winds and literally picked up an 8-tonne truck and flipped it over."
A GoFundMe started for Mr McPaul's family, and his expectant wife, can be found here.
Exhausted firefighters are being told over their radio to just focus on humans as out-of-control blazes become impossible to control.
There are reports dozens of homes have been destroyed in the fires burning across NSW.
On the Far South RFS radio broadcast, volunteers were told to "just save life only" in a bid to free up resources.
Surf lifesavers on the NSW South Coast are working around the clock to help the thousands of people forced away from their homes as bushfires rage.
Volunteers across the state are working overtime with clubs sheltering more than 10,000 people.
The quaint village of Cobargo, in the south of NSW, has been almost completely destroyed by fire – with fears at least two people are dead.
Photos of the main street of Cobargo, which used to be lined by historic, turn-of-the-century buildings, appear to show it completely razed.
There are also reports the local school has been destroyed.
The blaze is also responsible for destroying disinfection infrastructure within the Brogo River water supply catchment.
Residents in Quaama, Cobargo, Bermagui, Beauty Point, Fairhaven, Wallaga Lake, Wallaga Lake Heights, Wallaga Lake Koori Village, Akolele are advised to boil their water.
Cobargo, to the west of Bermagui, has been on fire for much of today, with multiple buildings on the main street on fire and RFS crews struggling to save properties.
The town was evacuated earlier today.
The fire affecting Cobargo is the Badja Forest Rd fire near Cooma, which is rapidly moving eastward and was predicted to be among the blazes to expand most significantly, along with a fire in the Snowy Valleys. Almost 100 blazes continue to burn across NSW, with dozens uncontained and eight today at “emergency” level.
Sunrise host Sam Armytage has lashed City of Sydney Council for pushing on with its New Year's Eve fireworks despite the bushfire crisis.
Armytage was in the bushfire-ravaged region on the NSW's South Coast when she was evacuated to Narooma earlier today.
Posting a picture of the bright orange sky to her Instagram story, Armytage said it was "like Armageddon" down south.
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons didn't hesitate when he was asked if he thought this bushfire season was "the worst on record for NSW".
"Absolutely, yes," he said.
NSW currently has fires stretching all the way from Nowra down to the Victorian border.
The southerly change, which will blow through this afternoon, is expected to make things even worse.
The southerly change will move through the Jervis Bay region around 3pm before hitting Sydney at 8pm – before the New Year's Eve fireworks.
It will move fires previously heading east in a northerly direction.
“Anywhere from Nowra down to the Victorian border, right out to places like Tumut and Tumbarumba, across the ranges – we’re seeing aggressive and dangerous fire behaviour,” Mr Fitzsimmons told reporters.
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said there were grave fears for three people unaccounted for in NSW's south.
"We are getting preliminary reports that we have three people unaccounted for and the potential for three potential fatalities as a result of the fire on the South Coast," Mr Fitzsimmons said.
The reports relate to two people missing in Cobargo and another person missing at Belowra.
Police said it was still unsafe for them to get to either of the towns to confirm the reports but "the suggestion is at this stage that they've been impacted by the fire".
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