Rick Wright inspects the damage next to his house at Nabiac, some 350 kilometes north of Sydney, on 14 November 2019. (AFP)

The Department of Foreign Affairs, through its Embassy in Canberra, Consulate General in Sydney and Honorary Consulates in Brisbane and Perth, expressed relief that so far, there are no Filipinos injured by the bushfires in parts of New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia.

The DFA is closely monitoring the situation in the affected areas and is coordinating with various agencies and Filipino community leaders in Australia “to ascertain the safety and welfare of Filipino nationals.”

The department advised Filipino nationals in the affected areas to follow the instructions of their local authorities and to take all necessary precautions and recommended actions to maintain their safety and welfare.

Forty-degree heat and catastrophic conditions in Western Australia and lightning strikes in Queensland could intensify fires over the weekend as the country enters its second week of sustained bushfires.

As of Saturday morning, conditions in New South Wales had eased slightly but the NSW Rural Fire Service said an uncontrolled bushfire burning through more than 100,000 hectares near Sydney’s northwestern outskirts was unlikely to be contained before weather conditions worsen.

Firefighters backburned through Friday night to try and get a handle on the massive Gospers Mountain blaze, which is burning in the Hawkesbury region.

NSW Rural Fire Service Inspector Ben Shepherd said the fire, which has been downgraded to a “watch and act” alert, “has now burnt out more than 100,000 hectares and it has destroyed six homes.”

“We’ve had reports that one further home may have been lost yesterday.”

People watch as the fire front approaches their home at Nabiac, some 350 kilometers north of Sydney, on 15 November 2019. (AFP)

The bushfire crisis is now set to intensify on both Australian coasts, with forecasters warning “there is not much end in sight” to a horrific fire season that has not even hit summer.

Catastrophic conditions are forecast on Sunday in four regions of WA: east Pilbara coast, west Pilbara coast, east Pilbara inland and Ashburton Inland.

The catastrophic rating was introduced in 2009 and is the equivalent of the conditions for Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires. On Tuesday last week, Sydney experienced catastrophic conditions for the first time.

In Queensland on Saturday, the Pechey/Ravensbourne fire in the Darling Downs region flared to an emergency level, driven by hot and dry wind gusts.

It was traveling in a northerly direction from Grapetree Road at Pechey towards Ravensbourne.

Conditions are expected to worsen on Sunday, when the Darling Downs and Granite Belt region will rise to an extreme fire danger.

Severe isolated thunderstorms will also develop which, instead of bringing respite, could create dry lightning strikes that start more fires.

“With those winds, particularly as they increase on Sunday, we are likely to see an increase in the fire dangers,” said the Bureau of Meteorology’s Jess Gardner.

In WA, a cauldron of hot air will develop on Saturday and sit over the state for days.

The hot air will then sweep through the rest of the country, worsening fire conditions in NSW and Queensland by mid-week.

“Unfortunately, we are in for the long haul and there is not much end in sight,” Gardner told AAP.

In WA, extreme fire danger is forecast on Saturday for the east Pilbara inland, Gascoyne inland and south interior.

In Queensland, severe fire danger is forecast on Saturday for the Darling Downs and Granite Belt, rising to extreme on Sunday.

And in NSW, Tuesday and Wednesday will be fire weather days, with “the weather conditions again deteriorating,” according to the bureau.

Overnight, NSW firefighters took advantage of a southerly change that allowed them to strengthen containment lines.

As of Saturday morning, five fires in NSW were at a “watch and act” level, and none were at emergency.

The biggest danger is in the north of the state on Saturday – with severe ratings issued for New England, the Northern Slopes and northwestern regions.

Total fire bans are in effect in those areas, as well as the far north coast, on a day that will have temperatures moving into the mid-30s, very low humidity and gusty winds once again.

“It’s a little bit like groundhog day,” Shepherd said. “Once again we’ve got severe fire dangers and such a huge area of fire that we are dealing with.

“As conditions worsen this afternoon we could see properties threatened. Communities need to remain vigilant.”

More than 60 fires continued to burn across Queensland, and 59 in NSW, as of midday Saturday.

A man suspected of starting a blaze which reached emergency level, at Guyra Road in Ebor, east of Armidale, was arrested on Friday. (With reports from guardian.com)