Lightning causes house blazes as fires burn across NSW

Coastal NSW looks set to get a dose of the record-breaking hot temperatures seen throughout the state's inland, as lightning storms and winds spark numerous bushfires. Temperatures at some centres in western NSW continued to climb late on Friday afternoon, while a lightning storm passed over the Blue Mountains starting an unknown number of new fires. Those storms also knocked out power supply to homes and businesses. About 9000 addresses on Sydney's northern beaches and some on the Central Coast were without power because of the storms, Energy Australia said in a statement. Meanwhile, the Rural Fire Service (RFS) is battling numerous blazes, fanned by winds up to 60km/h, while metropolitan fire crews fight house fires believed started by lightning at Castle Cove and Campbelltown in Sydney.(Sydney Morning Herald)