HAZARD REDUCTION BURNS TAKE PLACE ACROSS THE HUNTER

Fire authorities made the most of favourable weather today to carry out hazard reduction burns across the Hunter.

At Kotara South, a seven-hectare parcel of land bordering Blackbutt Parade and the Inner City Bypass was set alight, with the smoke from about 10 years of undergrowth visible across the city.

It was just one of around 70 hazard burns across the state.

In Sydney, the ambulance service recorded a spike in asthma cases, after the operation sent a thick haze over the city.