A man's died and hundreds of people have evacuated their homes - as wildfires continue in Australia.
The 63-year-old man died from a heart attack as he defended his home in the Central Coast, north of Sydney.
Cooler temperatures and a drop in wind are offering firefighters some relief but 94 fires were still raging across the state of New South Wales.
NSW Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said that despite the cooler conditions the situation is still "very active, very dynamic, very dangerous".
"We are going to... continue to save life and to protect as much property as possible, but at the same time slowly take advantage of the weather conditions that are more favourable than was otherwise presented yesterday," he said, adding that 86,000 hectares have been burnt out so far.
Several major blazes fanned by high, erratic winds in unseasonably warm weather ripped through communities in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney on Thursday with whole streets razed.
Two firefighters are also in hospital with one undergoing an operation.
Hundreds of residents spent the night in evacuation centres and awoke this morning to confront the extent of the disaster.
Here's Austrialian Prime Minister Tony Abbott:
