With 24 hours’ notice, 75 QLD firefighters head into unprecedented bushfires in NSW

A convoy of Queensland firefighters are flying to NSW to fight unprecedented bushfires that have already claimed the lives of 15 people, including three firefighters.

THEY’VE been fighting fires in their own backyard for months on end, but 75 Queensland firefighters have put their hands up to battle unprecedented blazes in New South Wales.

With only 24 hours notice, 54 Rural Fire Service volunteers left Brisbane this morning to battle bushfires in the Wollongong area.

An additional 21 fire and rescue personnel have been sent to New South Wales to protect homes near Sydney, most likely the Blue Mountains.

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Kathy, Dominic, 14, Marty, 13, Liam, 10, and Charlotte, 7, Hill with their dad Craig Hill at the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Brisbane. Craig is part of the team sent from Brisbane to help fight fires in New South Wales. Picture: AAP/Josh Woning

Mother of three Christy Lewis from the Queensland Rural Fire Brigade has been deployed to fight bushfires in New South Wales. Picture: AAP/Josh Woning

QFES Acting Inspector Joel Gordon said fire conditions in NSW would spike tomorrow with temperatures up to 47 degrees with winds of up to 90km/h.

“I cannot understate how dangerous this situation is potentially going to be,” Mr Gordon said.

“We are going into a fire ground in a state where they have already lost 15 lives, three of those were our fellow firefighters.

“We are potentially going into a declared disaster zone. We are going to be confronted with images that people may or may not find distressing.”

The volunteers will face horrendous conditions across NSW tomorrow. Picture: AAP/Josh Woning

The 75 members of Queensland’s deployment were given just 24 hours notice. Picture: AAP Image/Josh Woning

Mum-of-three Christy Lewis, 31, has been a volunteer firefighter in the RFS for three years. and was last year deployed five times to fight bushfires in NSW.

“NSW people come up here and they help us when we need help, so it’s only natural that you return the favour,” Ms Lewis said.

“The kids were like ‘mum you going to go?’ and I feel guilt because as a mum you want to stay and be there with the kids but they understand.”

Wayne Joce, Samuel Eitz, Jessica Eadie, Roslyn Dalton and Inspector Joel Gordon. Picture: AAP Image/Josh Woning

Staff and volunteer firefighters head to New South Wales. Picture: AAP Image/Josh Woning

Ms Lewis’ partner, who is also a firefighter, is staying home to look after the kids.

“He’s a firefighter too, so he said to me be safe, be careful, it’s like a war zone down there,” she said.

“He’s a bit nervous but we’ve got really good people around us … at the end of the day when you’re in a zone like that we have the training.”

The decision to offer up resources to NSW was only made yesterday, according to QFES Commissioner Greg Leach.

Volunteers are briefed ahead of leaving for NSW. Picture: AAP Image/Josh Woning

The firefighters will spend 5-7 days battling bushfires in NSW. Picture: AAP Image/Josh Woning

He said favourable weather conditions in Queensland have lowered fire risk and no significant fires are currently burning in the state.

“That gave us the ability to make an offer to NSW yesterday and of course they were only too quick to accept because if you’ve been watching any of the footage down there they’ve just been getting hammered in NSW, some of the fire behaviour that you will have seen is just extraordinary,” Mr Leach said.

“Our ground fuel conditions are still very dry and given the right day and the right weather we could be back into fire conditions ourselves, but currently we are tracking okay.”

The QLD crews are expected to return within 5-7 days. Mr Leach said another RFA crew may be deployed upon their return.