Firefighters in Australia's east battle to control a bushfire that earlier threatened homes before being downgraded as sweltering conditions began to ease Tuesday.

The fire, burning near the town of Hill End about 193 kilometers west of Sydney, is one of over a dozen burning in the state of New South Wales.

With two years of wetter-than-usual conditions -- which at times drove damaging floods -- the country has largely avoided life-threatening fire seasons since the devastation wrought by the Black Summer fires three years ago.