Firefighters continue to battle a large bushfire in Byron Bay, as shocked beachgoers share photos of black smoke billowing into the sky from the iconic location.
The blaze, which started on Saturday afternoon, has been burning across 272 hectares of coastal bushland about 5km north-west of Byron Bay – between Bayshore Drive, Black Rock Road and Ewingsdale Road.
A fire alert issued by the NSW Rural Service lists the fire as “being controlled”.
Despite the fire conditions improving today, the RFS has urged residents in the area to keep monitoring the situation, as increasing winds may change the fire’s behaviour throughout the day.
A total fire ban is in place for large parts of New South Wales due to hot, dry, and windy conditions creating an extreme fire danger.
Today’s total fire ban covers the Greater Sydney, Greater Hunter, Far North Coast, North Western, Northern Slopes, and New England regions.
