A firefighter hoses flames in trees near houses at Bilpin, 75km (47 miles) west of Sydney on Tuesday, October 22. 
Smoke fills the air along the roadside as fires threaten homes in the Blue Mountains on Tuesday, October 22. 
Authorities are preparing for conditions to worsen amid forecasts of hotter weather and stronger winds. 
A man in Yellow Rock, Australia, stands in front of a building that was destroyed by the bush fires scorching the country's eastern state of New South Wales. The fires had burned more than 116,000 hectares of land by Monday, October 21, officials said, and more than 200 homes had been damaged or destroyed. 
A firefighter lights a back burn Monday, October 21 near Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains. There are fears that the dozens of fires could become one possible "megafire." 
Smoke from the bush fires is seen burning near Sydney in this October 21 photo released by NASA. New South Wales is Australia's most populous state. One in three Australians live there. 
A firefighter puts in containment lines on the Darling Causeway, near Bell, Australia, on October 21. 
A volunteer firefighter works to put out a fire near the Monkey Creek Cafe in Bell on Sunday, October 20. 
Victims look over the remains of their home on Friday, October 18, after a devastating bush fire passed through Winmalee in the Blue Mountains. 
In this photo provided by Zig Zag Railway, Rail Motor 2016 sits burnt out October 18 after the fires swept through the Australian heritage railway line near Lithgow. 
A helicopter works to extinguish bush fires burning near Winmalee on October 18. 
The charred coastline of Catherine Hill Bay is seen near Wyong, Australia, on October 18. 
The Wallarah House, a historic site, sits burned to the ground in Catherine Hill Bay on October 18. 
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaks during a bush fire briefing in Winmalee on October 18. 
Smoke fills the sky above the Winmalee Country Club on October 18. 
Firefighters fought scores of bush fires in New South Wales early on October 18. 
Smoke and ash from wildfires blanket the Sydney skyline on Thursday, October 17. 
Smoke looms over Sydney University in this photo taken October 17 by iReporter Alison Burke Griffiths. 
Sean Butler walks with his face covered after fighting fires with other residents of the historic township of Newnes Junction on October 17. 
Smoke shrouds a cricket match between the Western Australia Warriors and the South Australia Redbacks during their Ryobi Cup match October 17 at Drummoyne Oval. 
Thick smoke rises from a bush fire burning near Springwood on October 17. 
Smoke fills the sky over the Sydney Harbour Bridge on October 17. 
Smoldering remains are seen in Newnes Junction on October 17. 
Smoke fills the sky over Sydney on October 17. 
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- NEW: Western suburbs of Sydney are now threatened by growing wildfires
- More than 70 wildfires -- including 29 that are not contained -- are spread by high winds
- A line of fires nearly 1,000 miles long threatens the state of New South Wales, Australia
- Prime minister refutes claims that wildfire spread is linked to climate change
Are you affected by the fires? Send us your pictures and experiences but please stay safe
Blue Mountains, Australia (CNN) -- Wildfires threatened the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia's largest city, Wednesday as high winds and temperatures created at least a dozen new fires that are blazing across a 1,000-mile stretch of New South Wales.
As thousands of Australian firefighters battled the blazes, the nation's prime minister said the U.N. head of climate change was "talking through her hat" on claims this spate of wildfires are linked to global warming.
More than 70 wildfires -- including 29 that are uncontained -- are raging across a wide swath of Australia's most populous state, authorities said. The Sydney Airport region and Lucas Heights areas were placed under extreme fire warnings. Power is out at more than 1,300 homes in fire stricken regions, according to Ausgrid.
"As the conditions are warming up, we're seeing an increase in fire activity. We're also seeing a number of new fires starting right across the fire-affected areas," said Shane Fitzsimmons, Rural Fire Service (RFS) commissioner. "It's a fluid situation."
Fires inflame climate change debate
Australia bush fires continue to burn 
Firefighters battle blaze, weather 
Some lose everything in bush fires 
Wildfires cut swath of destruction 
Firefighter drives through huge flames At least one death has been reported. A 63-year-old man died of a suspected heart attack Friday while defending his home against a blaze on the New South Wales Central Coast, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The wildfires stretch along a nearly 1,000-mile line in New South Wales, from the far north of the state south of Brisbane -- which lies just across the Queensland border -- to east of Canberra, the country's federal capital. Fires in the Blue Mountain range west of Sydney are a particular worry as rough terrain has impeded firefighting efforts.
Anatomy of a bush fire: How Australia's explosive forest fires work
Helicopters circled Springwood, a Blue Mountains community under emergency alert status, dumping "tons and tons of water" as the flames neared homes, said CNN's Robyn Curnow.
"What we're seeing here is fires coming very, very close to residential properties," Curnow said. "There seems to be a sense of helplessness by some people as they are watching as these fires run out of control."
Scores of fires now have burned 25,800 hectares (310,859 acres) -- an area greater than the size of Los Angeles.
'Eerie' skies over city of Sydney
Light rains overnight in some areas have done nothing to stop the main blazes, and in fact hampered "backburning" operations -- fires begun by emergency crews to reduce potential tinder the wildfires to expand. Helicopters in the region dropped not only water to extinguish fires, but incendiary devices on the tops of mountains to create preventative burns.
"These fires ran more than 30 kilometers in one day because it gets on top of a mountain, showers the next area with embers, starts new fires ahead of it," RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers in New South Wales said on Tuesday.
The political blaze
Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Australian radio the U.N. head of climate change was "talking through her hat" when she told CNN's Christiane Amanpour there is "absolutely" a link between the fires spreading across Australia's most populous state and global warming.
"The World Meteorological Organization has not established a direct link between this wildfire and climate change -- yet," U.N. Climate Chief Christiana Figueres told Amanpour on Monday. "But what is absolutely clear is the science is telling us that there are increasing heat waves in Asia, Europe, and Australia; that there these will continue; that they will continue in their intensity and in their frequency."
Abbott said in an interview on 3AW radio in Melbourne Wednesday that brush fires have had a long history in Australia. "The official in question is talking through her hat, if I may say so," Abbott said.
"Climate change is real, as I've often said, and we should take strong action against it, but these functions are certainly not a function of climate change, they're a function of life in Australia," Abbott said.
"We've had bad fires since almost the beginning of European settlement," he added. "It has been since humans were on the continent. The Aboriginal people managed the landscape through various forms of firestick farming."
CNN's Mick Krever and Jessica King contributed to this report
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