Firefighters work to contain fires across Australian state

CANBERRA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Fire crews are working to contain a number of fires on a day of total fire ban across New South Wales (NSW).

Record-breaking hot temperatures, storms and wild winds on Friday sparked and fueled a series of bushfires, mostly in remote and inaccessible terrain in the Blue Mountains, the Hawksbury region and the state's northeast.

A number of fires are burning in remote and rugged terrain within the Blue Mountains and the Lithgow area, the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) said as reported by the ABC radio Saturday morning.

Remote area firefighting crews will be deployed to a two hectare fire, nine km north of Hazelbrook, if conditions allow, with water bombing aircraft to be brought in throughout the day.

The extreme conditions forced the closure of the Blue Mountains National Park, which will remain shut until further notice.

RFS Assistant Commissioner Rob Rogers said a total fire ban was in force across the state.

"Temperatures have been quite elevated so the fuel is very dry, and add those winds and it doesn't take much for fires to run very, very quickly indeed," he said.

Firefighters are continuing to work to contain a fire which has burned about 3,280 hectares of scrub and grass about ten km south of Inverell, in the state's north.