RTX14IDF
21 Oct. 2013
Sydney, Australia
The remains of a possum can be seen on the edge of a water tank after a bushfire passed through the area in the Blue Mountains suburb of Winmalee, located around 70 km west of Sydney, October 21, 2013. More than 200 homes have been destroyed since last Thursday as scores of fires burned through thousands of hectares of bush, farms and rural communities outside Sydney. A state of emergency has been declared in New South Wales (NSW) state, Australia's most populous. Forecasts for a return of hot, windy weather later this week has raised fears that three of the most dangerous blazes in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney could join up to form a massive "mega-fire", according to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. REUTERS/David Gray (AUSTRALIA - Tags: SOCIETY ENVIRONMENT)