Homes between Balmoral and Hill Top engulfed in flames as fire hits
This was the dramatic scene as worried firefighters rushed to the aid of a colleague who succumbed to heat exhaustion as he battled to save homes in Sydney’s southwest this afternoon, one of four fireys injured amid catastrophic conditions.
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A firefighter suffered heat exhaustion fighting the Green Wattle Creek fire at Balmoral in Sydney’s southwest today, one of four fireys injured amid catastrophic conditions.
Firey Matty Eyles suffered smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion while saving homes on Bolans Road after a sudden westerly wind change whipped up the flames at 2pm.
Lying on the ground covered in ice packs, Mr Eyles opened his eyes to tell Balmoral resident Mick Duggan he’d saved his home.
“The first words out of his mouth were ‘we saved your house mate’,” Mr Duggan said.
“I don’t know the bloke but he looked at me in the eyes from on the ground and said ‘we saved your house.”
Firefighter and former policeman Warren Davis pleaded with the injured firey to evacuate, but he wouldn’t leave while he thought he could make a difference.
“He’s a tough bastard and he’s just so bloody brave,” Mr Davis said.
“I had to tell him the Lakelands (fire) truck was in trouble before he agreed to leave.”
After being treated at the Balmoral brigade shed for more than an hour, the injured firefighter was loaded into an ambulance, conscious and drinking fluids, at 3.30pm.
Homes are on fire in Sydney’s southwest between Balmoral and Hill Top after a sudden wind change flared the Green Wattle Creek fire.
Simon Neich, 46, and his son Jack, 16, ran for their lives when their home on Bolands Road at Balmoral caught fire at 2pm.
The father and son had been dousing their timber veranda with water all morning but it wasn’t enough to stop it going up in flames.
“One second I was talking to dad in the back yard and the next second everything was on fire,” Jack told The Sunday Telegraph.
“We got hit by a wall of black smoke then there were flames, no joke, three times the size of the trees.”
In the 30 seconds it took the pair to bolt from their back yard to the front yard to get in the car and evacuate, the fire was right beside them.
Standing outside the Balmoral fire station with tears in his eyes and short of breath, Simon said no amount of preparation could save his home.
“I’ve had bores running non-stop for three weeks and I’ve been spraying my house for the past three days but it didn’t do a thing,” Simon said.
“There’s no help, there’s no (fire) trucks because it just came too quick.
“I’m just shaking.”
The Neich’s neighbour, Mick Duggan, 60, also drive out while his home burned in the rear-vision mirror.
“I couldn’t believe how it became life threatening within 10 seconds,” he said.