Australian fire crisis eases, blazes still threaten small towns

By Maggie Lu Yueyang SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian firefighters battled massive wildfires in bushland around Sydney on Wednesday, but hot weather that could have caused a catastrophic mega-fire did not materialize, allowing authorities to tell some evacuated residents it was safe to return to home. However, the crisis was far from over with new fires igniting and strong winds fanning blazes in the Blue Mountains, a major commuter area of small towns west of Sydney. …