1994 Eastern seaboard fires

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The 1994 Eastern seaboard fires were bushfires in New South Wales, Australia between 27 December 1993 and 16 January 1994 were widespread along the NSW coast from Bega to the Queensland border and inland as far as Bathurst. Over 80 separate fires encouraged by extreme hot dry and windy conditions threatened many areas including the major cities of Newcastle and Sydney. The fires burnt out over 800,000 hectares killed four people and destroyed 225 homes, most in southern Sydney suburbs of Jannali and Como West. Como West Public School was destroyed.

These fires generated a large amount of media coverage internationally. Unlike earlier fire, several of which caused much more damage, they entered a major city, as the latter Black Christmas and 2003 Canberra bushfires would too. Also this is the only time a major city, Sydney, been threatened with total isolation due to fire. At the peak of the fires only the Hume Highway to the southwest remained open, all other road and rail routes out of Sydney were closed.