"We actually ran out of water pressure,so we had to go to the pool. Sean put out a spot fire with one of these buckets,"he said.
The residents told theHerald that nearby bushland had been backburnt just a fortnight ago.
"We’re really lucky,"Mr Murphy said.
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said at least one firefighter was injured while responding to the blaze. He said it appeared the firefighter had broken an arm and ribs.
As temperatures reached the high 30s in Sydney on Tuesday,several spot fires flared across the city,including near Penrith,where a scrub fire quickly turned out of control.
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Hamilton World of Cacti in Llandilo,in the city’s west,was damaged just before 3pm when the adjacent scrub caught alight.
The owner,Kim Hamilton,said she lost three sheds and stock,adding that she was very worried about what the rest of the fire season would bring.
As more than a dozen fires burnt out of control across NSW on Tuesday afternoon,air quality in Sydney was downgraded to"hazardous".
Paramedics responded to almost 70 calls for breathing problems by 4pm,40 of them within the Sydney basin.
Meanwhile,three men allegedly breached the state’s total fire ban,while a young boy admitted to lighting a fire with a blowtorch near Nowra.
The nine-year-old,due to his age,was warned under the Young Offenders Act after a small grass fire broke out behind a street about 11.35am on Tuesday.
Police say the boy,who was with a group of other children,admitted to lighting the fire.
The total state-wide fire ban was extended into Wednesday.
As firefighters worked to contain blazes across the state and city,the federal government's aviation authority labelled the use of personal drones over fire grounds"sheer stupidity"that risked lives after an incident on Monday night.
Crews on Sydney's north shore were responding to reports of smoke when they spotted a civilian drone hovering over the area.
Although no fire was found,the drone could have seriously hampered firefighting efforts,the Killara rural fire brigade said in a post on Facebook.
"If a fire was confirmed at the location we would not be able to request any aerial assistance due to the sighting of a drone near the fire,"the brigade posted in a statement on Facebook.
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"Please do not fly drones near fires,you are risking lives,if you fly then we can't."
As a strong southerly buster washed over the city on Tuesday evening,the fire rating for Sydney was downgraded to from"catastrophic"to"very high"for Wednesday.
A state of emergency is likely to remain in place for the rest of the week.