The town of Balmoral in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales has been left decimated in the wake of ferocious bushfires this weekend.

A sudden wind change flared an immense blaze near Green Wattle Creek on Saturday as temperatures hit 41C, destroying an as-yet-unknown number of homes.

Speaking today, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian expressed her devastation as she confirmed “there’s not much left in the town of Balmoral”.

“I’m very sad to hear that, and many residents, of course, have had that news in the last little while,” Ms Berejiklian told reporters.

The town is home to some 400 people, with an estimated 150 houses.

Expert teams are currently assessing the damage, and will let residents know when it’s safe for them to return, she said.

“We want people to have access to their land, to their property, as soon as they can. But it has to be safe. Even if people have lost their properties, they still want to go back to see what’s left and if there is anything they can salvage.”

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Crews worked tireless throughout yesterday as Balmoral was ravaged for the second time in days, with one rural firefighter suffering heart exhaustion – one of four injured at the frontline.

Local resident Mick Duggan told The Sunday Telegraph that the firey, Matty Eyles, was collapsed on the ground and covered in ice packs when he opened his eyes to reveal that he’d managed to save his home.

“The first words out of his mouth were ‘we saved your house mate’,” Mr Duggan told the newspaper.

“I don’t know the bloke but he looked at me in the eyes from on the ground and said ‘we saved your house.”

One of Mr Eyles’ colleagues described him as a “tough bastard” who continued to fight the blaze despite his utter exhaustion.

Standing alongside Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has just returned to Australia from his Hawaiian family holiday, Ms Berejiklian said disaster relief had been expended to another two local councils, including the one covering Balmoral.

“The devastation is shocking. I have also been just literally bowled over by the way the community’s come together. The resilience, and people’s generosity,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“People with not much are giving away everything they have to support others. And it’s times like these when you really appreciate what NSW and what Australia’s about.”

It was a privilege to talk to residents from the Balmoral and Buxton areas today. Some have lost everything, some have received news their properties have been saved, & others are still waiting to find out.Their common message was deep gratitude for our amazing firefighters. pic.twitter.com/DzvXQQh6fU — Gladys Berejiklian (@GladysB) December 22, 2019

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said horrific conditions on Saturday had resulted in significant destruction across large parts of the state.

“We’ve seen widespread damage and destruction being reported across a number of these fire grounds and we’ve got impact assessment teams already deployed into the field this morning, trying to gain access to those impacted fire grounds,” Commissioner Fitzsimmons said.

“We are expecting another heavy toll unfortunately with efforts that property loss could be in the dozens of buildings, including homes, old buildings, sheds and businesses.