STORY: People in the Australian state of New South Wales returned to their homes on Sunday (December 7) after a bushfire burned some properties to the ground in in Koolewong, a suburb around 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Sydney.

More than 60 wildfires were still burning in New South Wales on Sunday, a day after they destroyed at least 12 homes in the state's central coast region, home to more than 350,000 people.

Authorities have warned of a high-risk bush fire season this Australian summer with increased risk of extreme heat forecast for large swaths of the country, after several quiet seasons.

New South Wales is one of the most wildfire-prone regions in Australia, with the risk increasing due to climate change. Australia's "Black Summer" fires of 2019-2020 burned an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people.

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SHOWS: KOOLEWONG, AUSTRALIA (DECEMBER 7, 2025) (AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION – Broadcast: No use Australia Digital: No use Australia / .com.au internet sites / any internet site of any Australia based media organisations or mobile platforms / Australian NVO clients / smh.com.au / news.com.au)

1. VARIOUS OF FIRE DAMAGED AND SMOULDERING PROPERTY DEBRIS

2. WATER HOSE ON MELTED STAND AMONG FIRE DAMAGED DEBRIS

3. VARIOUS OF DESTROYED HOUSE

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) RESIDENT, PRAKESH POUDEL, SAYING:

"Our house is safe but most of the neighbours’ houses burned down, so it's quite bad. But we are safe, that's the most important for us now and we luckily got a chance to get some of the things that we need now. Because yesterday I didn't get a chance to even pick up my mobile, it was inside and we had to evacuate and no time so yeah, I got time to bring some of the things out."

5. HELICOPTER FLYING OVER TREES

6. VARIOUS OF CHARRED TREES NEAR ROAD

7. CHARRED GROUND NEAR ROAD

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED RESIDENT, SAYING:

"They (woman speaking’s parents) didn't have much warning, they had six police come to the front door and my Dad's slightly mobile so they actually carried him down and they helped him get in the car and off they left still in his PJ's, so yeah."

9. DESTROYED PROPERTY

10. DEBRIS FROM PROPERTY

11. DESTROYED PROPERTY

12. CHARRED REMAINS OF VEHICLE

13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL RESIDENT, CRAIG SAXON, SAYING:

"And yeah so we thought we were ready but yeah, so I stayed back to stuff the rags in the gutters and turn on the sprinkler on the roof and when I turned it on there was no water pressure. And the 2005 fires, there was water pressure the whole day, so the tank at the top of Koolewong hill should have been full during this bushfire season and most of the these houses I reckon would have been saved."

14. VARIOUS OF CHARRED PROPERTY DEBRIS