The New South Wales Rural Fire Service confirmed that Sydney’s iconic fireworks display on New Year’s Eve would proceed despite calls for its cancellation due to the bushfires gripping the state.
The Rural Fire Service (RFS) declared a total fire ban for the region, but granted an exemption for the Sydney Harbour display. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather around the harbour in Sydney to watch the city’s world-famous firework celebrations. Temperatures are forecasted to spike on New Year’s Eve.
Fireworks in rural locations as well as Western Sydney and Wollongong were cancelled amid fears they would spark more fires.
An online petition calling for the Sydney spectacle to be cancelled and the money given to farmers and firefighters had attracted more than 270,000 signatures by late Monday.
NYE celebrations have been cancelled in Parramatta, Wollongong and Campbelltown due to unsafe weather.