Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited the Rural Fire Service (RFS) headquarters in Sydney on Sunday, having returned from a holiday in Hawaii on Saturday night that has drawn sharp criticism as the wildfire crisis in his home state deepened.

After the deaths of two firefighters on Thursday (December 19) night, Morrison announced he would return home early, and on Sunday, he acknowledged his holiday had caused anxiety.

The intensity of fires eased overnight in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia states, where fires had been burning out of control on Friday and Saturday as a combination of extreme heat and strong winds had created “catastrophic” conditions in some areas.

Fire conditions eased on some of the major fronts burning across Australia on Sunday after a cool weather change, with firefighters trying to contain blazes before hotter conditions are expected to return at the end of the week.

(Source: Reuters)