More than 70 homes and other buildings are feared to have been destroyed in and around the seaside town of Tathra, on the New South Wales south coast, the Rural Fire Service (RFS) says.
Four people in the Tathra region have been treated for smoke inhalation and one RFS volunteer has been injured, but there are no reports of missing people.
Favourable weather conditions overnight have allowed fire services to control the blaze which has now been downgraded from an emergency to ‘watch and act’ level.