Multiple bushfires across NSW continue to burn out of control more than 36 hours after the emergency began, scorching tens of thousands of hectares and destroying or damaging property.
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NSW firefighters have spent a long weekend fighting the intense blazes with a watch and act alert remaining in place for Bees Nest in Armidale and at Drake near Tenterfield.
The fire is burning to the north of Ebor, on multiple fronts, impacting Tyringham and Dundarrabin, while a large spot fire is also burning in the Muldiva State Forest in the Bostobrick area.
A strong wind warning will continue to make conditions difficult to control on Monday.
Meanwhile, crews have worked overnight with landholders to protect isolated properties in the area.A number of tactical back-burns also have been conducted to protect properties using dry firefighting techniques.
Late on Sunday afternoon, some 680 firefighters were still working on more than 53 bush and grass fires burning throughout the state, with 18 of those uncontained.
As well as the Bees Nest and Drake fires, a separate blaze at Shark Creek on the NSW north coast remained at a watch-and-act alert level late on Sunday night.
By Monday morning, the Bees Nest blaze had torched around 63,000 hectares, twice the size of the Sydney city council area, while at Drake, around 32,000 hectares were destroyed.
A handful of homes have been lost or damaged by fire, and a volunteer firefighter was critically injured on Friday with burns to his hands, arms, legs, back, face and airways while he fought a fire south of Tenterfield.
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.
In Queensland residents have been warned more properties could be lost and livestock losses will be significant as firefighters continue battling more than 50 fires across the state.
Eleven homes have been destroyed so far as fire crews worked overnight on Sunday trying to get control of the most dangerous blaze in the Gold Coast hinterland.
Water bombers were used on Sunday to try to subdue the blaze in Lamington National Park, which has also severely damaged the historic Binna Burra Lodge.
Early on Monday the 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.Meanwhile, there was better news for residents further inland from Binna Burra in the Queensland border towns of Stanthorpe and Applethorpe where a fire has been mostly contained.
Crews are pushing to strengthen the containment lines to ensure the fire stays under control, as the Bureau of Meteorology warns south-westerly winds will increase to 50km/h later on Monday morning.
An exclusion zone remains in place, but some residents are starting to return to homes to assess the damage.
At least eight structures including three homes have been destroyed in that area.
There are more than 50 fires burning right across the state and 11 schools will be closed on Monday.
One home was also destroyed by fire last week in far north Queensland.
Fire bans remain in place across most of the state.The Insurance Council of Australia on Sunday declared the situation a "catastrophe", ensuring victims' claims will be given priority.
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