Bushfires in Australia are common and impact extensive areas. Australia's summer officially starts on December 1, but this year the fire warning in South Australia was raised to "catastrophic". The annual fire season has started early after an unusually warm and dry winter. Smoke from Australia's bushfire crisis blanketed the major cities of Sydney and Adelaide. Australia's catastrophic bushfires — in pictures.
Australia ablaze: Haze covers Sydney as nature face burning danger
Dangerous bushfires continue to ravage Australia amid extreme heat
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Rural Fire Service volunteers and firefighters protecting a house on Wheelbarrow Ridge Road being impacted by the fire near Colo Heights south west of Sydney, Australia
© EPA-EFE/DEAN LEWINS The annual Australian fire season, which peaks during the Southern Hemisphere summer, has started early after an unusually warm and dry winter
© EPA-EFE/DEAN LEWINS Firefighters working to contain a bushfire in Colo Heights, New South Wales, Australia
© EPA-EFE/JEREMY PIPER Wildlife that survived a bushfire at Wollemi National Park, Australia
© EPA-EFE/JEREMY PIPER Firefighters working to contain a bushfire in Colo Heights, New South Wales, Australia
© EPA-EFE/DAN HIMBRECHTS Smoke haze hanging over the Sydney Opera House in Sydney
© AP Photo/Rick Rycroft A man jogging under the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney
© AP Photo/Rick Rycroft The smoke came from the Gospers Mountain fire north west of Sydney, which has burnt more than 160,000 hectares of land. Photo: A thick blanket of smoke is seen over Sydney's central business district
© EPA-EFE/DEAN LEWINS AUSTRALIA An air tanker drops fire retardant on the Gospers Mountain fire near Colo Heights, Australia
© EPA-EFE/DEAN LEWINS Pink fire retardant dropped by an air tanker on the Gospers Mountain fire covers trees near Colo Heights, Australia
© EPA-EFE/DAN HIMBRECHTS View of a house destroyed by fire near Colo Heights, Australia
© EPA-EFE/DAN HIMBRECHTS Rural Fire Service volunteers and firefighters working on Wheelbarrow Ridge Road near Colo Heights south west of Sydney
© EPA-EFE/DEAN LEWINS