Blue Mountains , Australia ( CNN ) -- Firefighters battling blazes that menaced the western suburbs of Sydney , Australia 's largest city , are concerned about Thursday 's weather conditions . `` Still expecting strong winds today which is clearly our focus across the current fire grounds . '' Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters Thursday morning . Fitzsimmons reported 24 of the 66 active fires are uncontained and raging across a wide swath of Australia 's most populous state destroying at least 193 homes in the Blue Mountains area . `` We do apologize and regret that we were n't able to save everything . We are very acutely aware , because our teams are embedded in those local communities- there has been so much damage and destruction and people have lost everything . They did their best and will continue to do their best , '' Fitzsimmons said on behalf of the fire services . A combination of high winds and temperatures Wednesday had fueled fears the bush fires burning across a 1,000-mile stretch of New South Wales would spread even farther . But thanks to fire crews ' `` extraordinary '' work , helped out by some unexpected light rain overnight , the worst of the danger has been avoided , said Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons . He praised firefighters for their skill and use of `` aggressive and high-risk strategies '' that included `` backburning '' operations -- fires begun by emergency crews to reduce potential tinder for the wildfires to feed on -- and thanked local communities for following instructions to keep them safe . Many families living in the Blue Mountains can now return home , he said , although they should be aware that conditions could still change . Some schools will reopen Thursday in those areas judged less at risk . But not everyone is out of danger yet . `` There 's a lot of very dangerous , a lot of very difficult firefighting occurring in communities still under threat , '' he said . `` The fight is far from over . '' Blue Mountain resident Pauline Worthington hopes buckets of water and damp grass will stop the fires from damaging her home , but will not be evacuating without trying to protect it . `` Stay and try to defend . If it gets too bad . We will go . Everything is packed ready to go , '' Worthington says . A total fire ban is in place for the greater Sydney region until further notice . More than 1,500 Australian firefighters continue to battle the flames , a fire service spokesman said late Wednesday . Inspector Andrew Luke of the Rural Fire Service confirmed the State Mine fire near Lithgow was sparked as the result of live ordnance exercises on the Marrangaroo Army Range . Ten buldings and homes in the State Mine area have been destroyed since October 16 . The Australian Department of Defense issued a statement acknowledging Defense personnel were conducting an explosive training activity in the same area on the day the fire started . The department is conducting an investigation into the military exercise . The Sydney Airport region and Lucas Heights areas are under extreme fire warnings . An emergency warning is also in place in the Gateshead area . Power is out at more than 1,300 homes in fire-stricken regions , according to Ausgrid , a state-owned electricity network . Thursday is expected to bring an unwelcome change in the weather , said Fitzsimmons , with dry , southerly winds that could gust at up to 50 mph . This could present `` real challenges '' for people living and working north of current active fire lines , he said . A nearly 1,000-mile line . Local officials are surprised by the early arrival of bush fires this year as spring turns toward summer in the Southern Hemisphere . Fitzsimmons said the threat to Blue Mountains communities followed an unseasonably hot and dry winter . `` Never before have we seen the extent of damage and destruction and wide-scale fire activity at this time of the year , '' he said . `` We need to remind ourselves that we have still got a long way to go as we look down the coming months into summer . '' At least one death has been reported . A 63-year-old man died of a suspected heart attack October 18 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 Mountains range west of Sydney are a particular worry as rough terrain has impeded firefighting efforts . 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 more than 126,000 hectares ( 311,000 acres ) , an area greater than the size of Los Angeles , said Rural Fire Service spokesman Andrew Luke . Helicopters in the region have dropped not only water to extinguish fires but also incendiary devices on the tops of mountains to create preventive 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 , '' Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers in New South Wales said Tuesday . The political blaze . Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Australian radio that the United Nations ' 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 said 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 on 3AW radio in Melbourne on Wednesday that bush 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 fires are certainly not a function of climate change , they 're a function of life in Australia , '' he said . `` We 've had bad fires since almost the beginning of European settlement . It has been since humans were on the continent . The Aboriginal people managed the landscape through various forms of firestick farming . '' CNN 's Robyn Curnow , Mick Krever , Larry Register , and Jessica King contributed to this report .
Official : This is a very good question. Investigation confirms one of the fires sparked as the result of live ordnance exercises . Fire chief praises firefighters ' skill , `` extraordinary '' effort in battling blazes . More than 60 wildfires reported in New South Wales ; 24 are not contained .