Australian towns endure night of 'shocking' bushfires

Helicopters buzzed over bushfire-scarred swathes of eastern Australia on Wednesday, assessing the damage left by "shocking" blazes that raged overnight.

Water bombing aircraft swooped on fires smouldering in Queensland and New South Wales (NSW), while fire crews raced to dig containment lines as conditions eased on Wednesday morning. A small number of homes had been destroyed but fire crews were able to prevent more significant destruction.

About 30 firefighters were flown from Sydney on Tuesday afternoon to reinforce crews protecting the northern NSW town of Tenterfield, which was surrounded by a ring of seven "dangerous" bushfires. Australia is facing its most intense bushfire season since 2019-2020.