Publication Date February 12, 2017 | Fire Engineering via Associated Press

Homes destroyed in fierce Australian wildfires

Australia
In this photo provided by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service smoke billows from a wildfire burning near Mudgee, Australia, Monday, Feb. 13, 2017. The fire has consumed more than 5000 hectares (12,350 acres) of bush and grasslands north-west of Sydney. Photo: NSW Rural Fire Service via AP
In this photo provided by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service smoke billows from a wildfire burning near Mudgee, Australia, Monday, Feb. 13, 2017. The fire has consumed more than 5000 hectares (12,350 acres) of bush and grasslands north-west of Sydney. Photo: NSW Rural Fire Service via AP

Several homes were destroyed and two firefighters injured by huge wildfires that tore across Australia's most populous state over the weekend, officials said Monday.

Scorching temperatures and fierce winds fanned the flames across a wide swathe of New South Wales on Saturday and Sunday. More than 2,500 firefighters fought nearly 100 fires as temperatures climbed to 47 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of the state. One fire alone burned through 50,000 hectares (124,000 acres).