More homes threatened as hopes for rain recede
Tim Barlass, Lucy Carroll Fires were threatening more homes in Blue Mountains villages on Saturday as Sydney faced blisteringly hot weather forecasts and residents came to terms with the loss of 200 houses.
Latest NSW news
Survivors tell their harrowing stories
RACHEL OLDING As the flames advance, the fate of hundreds hangs in the balance, Rachel Olding and Tim Barlass report.
Outrage: Fireworks continue despite bushfires
Anne Tarasov 9:30pm With fires burning around the state, many people have been outraged by fireworks displays held on Saturday night.
Close eye kept on repeat offenders
EAMONN DUFF Police profilers have assembled a hit list of more than 40 serial arson suspects and placed them under continuing surveillance - until at least the end of summer.
Emotional scars can last a lifetime
Houses and lives are rebuilt after a bushfire disaster, but it's not easy. Alexandra Smith and Natalie O'Brien report.
HSC students warned of travel shake-up
JACOB SAULWICK Students travelling to school and HSC exams are being warned that new train, bus and ferry timetables will apply from next week, in the wake of recent Sydney public transport failures.
Push for help fighting bars, bottle shops
KIRSTY NEEDHAM A community defender's office should be established under the liquor law so residents, schools and hospitals can fight a flood of unwanted bars and bottle shops, an alliance of medical and research groups says.
'Artful dodger' sentencing delayed again
Paul Bibby, Eamonn Duff Ron Coles has inflicted such financial stress on the small investors who lost their superannuation savings in his long-running scam that at least two of them subsequently suffered heart attacks.
Dodgers lose right to drive
KIRSTY NEEDHAM Tens of thousands of interstate drivers who have refused to pay NSW fines will have their right to drive on the state's roads removed.
Children follow in the footsteps of parents
Anne Tarasov One of his daughters is a ballerina, the other is a basketball player, and his son makes his own surfboards. Andrew Daddo's children have all embraced an active lifestyle in their own way.
Clean swoop: graffiti-buster's secret weapon
Kim Arlington Patrolling the quiet reaches of the upper north shore Michael Barnett fights an unseen enemy. He hits known haunts swiftly, repeatedly.
Sydney: seven-figure median house price
TOBY JOHNSTONE Once, $1 million would buy you a mansion. Now you'd be lucky to find an inner-city maisonette for that price.
True devastation of bushfires not yet known
NICK RALSTON ONE man is dead and hundreds of homes have been destroyed but the true devastation of the NSW bushfires may not be known for some days.
Temperature forecast raised in fire-hit regions
PETER HANNAM NSW faces a return to extreme fire weather this weekend, with the Bureau of Meteorology lifting its temperature forecasts for regions around Sydney and saying rain probably won't come now until Tuesday.
Longer fire seasons to be expected
Craig Butt, Lara O'Toole A bushfire season that starts in spring and stretches well into autumn will be the new normal for Australia's south-east, scientists say.
'I thought of calling my wife'
When The Newcastle Herald photographer Jonathan Carroll pulled up at Doyalson North on Thursday night, fires were surging through Lake Munmorah.
Fire corners elderly on water's edge
RACHEL OLDING The statuesque gum trees that give Tall Timbers Road its name are charred but central coast residents appeared to escape Friday's once-in-a-lifetime fires relatively unscathed.
Blaze destroys houses but not street's spirit
Emma Partridge, Megan Levy Catherine Hubbard might have suffocated in smoke had it not been for a phone call.
Tiny 'Catho' mostly saved
Dan Proudman On a day of such devastation came the little tale of a miracle.
Teacher hid loss during exodus
Kim Arlington The flames had razed homes and were threatening others. But the teachers and staff of St Thomas Aquinas Primary in Springwood remained calm as they led their pupils 2.5 kilometres to safety.
Resident dies fighting the flames
RACHEL OLDING His 1927 heritage-listed home stands cruelly intact. His four-year-old Alaskan malamute, Rex, is oblivious to the terror that unfolded on Thursday night.
Couple tried to fight crooked union boss
KATE MCCLYMONT While Michael Williamson looks set to be jailed for stealing $1 million from his former union, a Fairfax Media investigation has uncovered a pattern of extraordinary criminality.
Early bloomers a sign of abnormal conditions
PETER HANNAM Bizarre plant behaviour has been seen in the city's gardens.
Theatre
Big call made him an Opera House promoter
DAISY DUMAS The maths teacher and media researcher was, all of a sudden, a concert promoter.
Gambling's debts give ex-wife rude awakening
PAUL BIBBY The mother of three thought her family's finances in rude health - mortgage paid, the bank balance bulging and the family trust producing enough income to ensure the good life for years to come.
Pedal power: motorists' poll guru changes gear
SEAN NICHOLLS Having garnered national attention helping the Motoring Enthusiast Party snag a Senate spot, the man dubbed the ''preference whisperer'', Glenn Druery, is turning his focus to NSW politics.
Basketball boycott may affect other sports
Peter Munro The heads of Sydney's most prestigious schools association, the GPS, have clashed in an increasingly hostile stoush over the alleged use of sports scholarships by Scots College.
Come clean on plans, Sydney Water told
ANNA PATTY The government has been told to review its decision to deny access to documents that might reveal plans to privatise Sydney Water treatment plants.
Join the waiting list for Wanderland
SEBASTIAN HASSETT A year ago, nobody was quite sure how the Western Sydney Wanderers would fare. Now, as they prepare for their first home game of the new A-League season, nobody is quite sure how they'll get a ticket.
Pens down: HSC students evacuated mid-exam
Josephine Tovey, Amy McNeilage The fires which tore through NSW on Thursday broke out as many HSC students held pens in hand, studying for or sitting the exams they have worked towards for years.
Missing man likely killed in drug deal: police
To his family, he was a personable man who would give anyone the shirt off his back. Yet police believe he met his demise in a drug deal gone wrong.
Scant respite from fires threat in NSW
PETER HANNAM The strength of Thursday's winds caught authorities on the hop, with the fire danger only rated "severe" rather than "extreme", as had been forecast for the previous Sunday's heat spike.
Stolen statue: art gallery checks its collection
ANDREW TAYLOR The Art Gallery of NSW will check the provenance of other items in its collection after revelations that a 1000-year-old statue in its collection was stolen from a temple in southern India.
Holiday excitement ends in tragedy
Megan Levy, Sarah Whyte, Lindsay Murdoch A young family from Sydney and an aid worker are among six Australians feared dead after a plane crashed in Laos during a violent storm, reportedly killing everyone on board.
Volunteer firefighters face own agony
NICK RALSTON Volunteer firefighters who spent Thursday trying to save their local communities from raging bushfires have returned to discover their own homes have been destroyed.
NuCoal plans to sue Macdonald
SEAN NICHOLLS Mining company NuCoal is preparing to sue corrupt former Labor minister Ian Macdonald and the NSW government for tens of millions of dollars in damages.
NSW fires cause 20-kilometre traffic jam
LISA DAVIES The bushfire crisis has caused traffic chaos around NSW, with the Hume Motorway being cut for more than five hours south-west of Sydney.
Travellers warned to expect many long delays
JACOB SAULWICK Motorists on the main routes out of Sydney, the Hunter and southern highlands could continue to face long delays on Friday, after roads were cut by the bushfires that encircled the city.
Man accused of killing fiancee avoids jury trial
RACHEL OLDING Alleged murderer Simon Gittany has run out of money to fund his high-profile defence, telling a court he is at risk of having to represent himself.
Golf pro out of luck as blaze takes family home
Sherrill Nixon Joe Moore's luck ran out on Thursday.
Private Sydney
Today: poor reception
They are the familiar faces we wake up to each morning and come rain, hail or shine, we have come to expect those huge smiles beaming into our homes, delivering a dose of news, weather, gossip and chit-chat.
Video
Teens arrested after starting fire
Two teenage girls are caught attempting to light grass fires in Sydney's west, which "beggars belief" says a frustrated RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons. Channel Nine.
Homes lost but lucky to be alive
Residents tell of close calls on Friday as they return to salvage what they can from bushfire stricken homes across NSW.
Near miss for water bombing helicopter
Tragedy was narrowly averted as a water bombing helicopter helping fight fires near Wyong got its bucket caught in powerlines.
Crew documents fire rescue mission
Firefighters fight to save lives in Winmalee and Yellow Rock on Thursday, with many people rescued by crews from their burning homes. Video shot by Station Officer Rod Slavic.
Phone call saves Winmalee resident
Catherine Hubbard was asleep when her boss called asking if she was okay. It was only then that she realised how close the fire had come.
Springwood resident barely escapes inferno
Wlodekh Kozlowski was sitting in his lounge room when the windows exploded. He grabbed the dog and ran.
Commissioner fights back tears over firies
'We've got the best firefighters in the world' says RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons before breaking down at a press conference addressing the efforts of his volunteers. Channel Nine.
