Fire crews rush towards a bushfire south of Warwick, Queensland, Australia, 1 November 2023. (Photo: EPA-EFE/DARREN ENGLAND AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT) 
By Renju Jose
Emergency crews rushed to bushland near the rural town of Bulahdelah, 200 km (124 miles) north of Sydney, after reports that a tree had fallen on a man. The 59-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and died at the scene, officials said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the "terrible news is a sombre reminder" of the dangers faced by emergency services personnel as they work to protect homes and families.
"We honour that bravery, every day," Albanese said in a statement.
More than 50 bushfires were burning across the state of New South Wales as of Monday morning. A fast-moving fire over the weekend destroyed 16 homes in the state's Central Coast, home to about 350,000 people and a commuter region just north of Sydney.
Resident Rouchelle Doust, from the hard-hit town of Koolewong, said she and her husband tried to save their home as flames advanced.
"He's up there in his bare feet trying to put it out, and he's trying and trying, and I'm screaming at him to come down," Doust told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
"Everything's in it: his grandmother's stuff, his mother's stuff, all my stuff - everything, it's all gone, the whole lot."
Conditions eased overnight, allowing officials to downgrade alerts to the advice level, the second-lowest danger rating.
On the island state of Tasmania, a 700-hectare (1,729 acres) blaze at Dolphin Sands, about 150 km (93 miles) northeast of the state capital of Hobart, destroyed 19 homes and damaged 40. The fire has been contained, but residents have been warned not to return as conditions remain dangerous, officials said.
Authorities have warned of a high-risk bushfire season during Australia's summer months from December to February, with increased chances of extreme heat across large parts of the country following several relatively quiet years.
New South Wales is among Australia's most wildfire-prone regions, with some experts saying climate change is increasing the danger. Australia's "Black Summer" fires of 2019-2020 destroyed an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people.
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)