NSW bushfires: Small rural community of Uarbry all but wiped out

HEARTBREAKING scenes of devastation and charred landscapes have emerged in the brutal aftermath of the fires sweeping the state. The flames have taken a particular toll on the town of Uarbry, where houses, cars and livestock have been destroyed.

Fire crews at the blaze near the Golden Highway between the rural towns of Merriwa and Cassilis in NSW Central West. Photo Jeremy Piper

• Helpers head to central west community devastated by ‘apocalypse’

• RFS say 73 fires continue to burn across the state at midday today

• Premier pays tribute to firies who lost homes while battling blazes

HEARTBREAKING scenes of devastation and charred landscapes have emerged in the brutal aftermath of the fires sweeping the state.

Power poles suspended by the overhead lines, scorched and crumpled sheds and the burnt out remains of vehicles are among the images that await volunteers and returning residents.

The flames have taken a particular toll on NSW livestock, with the bodies of animals an unwelcome sight.

A car out the front of a house which was burned to the ground in Uarbry, east of Dunedoo. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

RFS member Paul Crerar inspects one of the houses levelled by the Sir Ivan bushfire. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

A van gutted by the flames which raced through Uarbry. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

All that remains of a farm shed east of Dunedoo. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

Charred corrugated iron is all that remains of this property. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

The region is still coming to terms with the damage and the lost livestock will be a blow to areas already comprehending the loss of homes and other structures.

Geoffrey White said his mother and father, Steven and Ruth, had lived in Uarbry since 1993.

“They’ve lost everything!” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“Ruth has been a valued member of the community, having been a guide leader for numerous years in Coolah and helping to restore the Uarbry hall and the list could go on.

Disaster zone.... a power pole hangs dangerously in the air in Uarbry. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

Stock had no chance of outrunning the fire. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

“My father has worked hard as a truck driver in Tamworth for the last seventeen years... he has recently though injured himself at work and is required to have surgery on his shoulder next week and ankle soon after... they really are honest hard working people who have lost a lot.”

Mr White added: “I’m just so grateful we didn’t (lose) them yesterday too.”

“I’m hoping in this instance their resilience and strength will see them through these uncertain days ahead,” he said.

Flare-ups are still occurring all the way along the Golden Highway. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

“Uarbry is gone. Completely burned to the ground from reports. Losses of homes, pets and all,” Madeline Best said.

Former resident Masha Crilly, now living in the UK, was relieved to hear her parents had escaped before it was destroyed.

“It’s awful. Loads of people have lost everything,” she told the Daily Telegraph from London

Sevent-three bush and grass fires continued to burn across the state at midday, 26 of which were still uncontained this afternoon.

The bushfire roars through the small town of Uarbry yesterday. Picture: Peter Gilmour.

A local man works to extinguish a grass fire on the Golden Highway between Merriwa and Cassilis. Picture: Jeremy Piper

A firefighter battles a grass fire on the Golden Highway between the rural towns of Merriwa and Cassilis in the NSW Central West. Picture: Jeremy Piper

An emergency evacuation warning was activated yesterday for villages in the path of the Sir Ivan fire which breached containment lines at Leadville near Dunedoo.

For residents of Uarbry, Turill and Cassilis it was too late to leave, with the RFS advising them to seek shelter.

Peter Gilmour returned to his half-acre block at 9.30pm last night to assess the damage.

He said there were only three of 12 houses left in the town, as fires continued to burn around the small village.

He said he was lucky some of his property had appeared to survive but he was waiting to see how it had survived the night.

The town hall and the church was completely obliterated by the fire.

He had taken shelter in the nearby town of Dunedoo, and was waiting for the road to reopen.

“Most neighbours have lost everything,” he said.

Fire crews at the remains of a house at Pappinbarra, west of Wauchope. Picture: Nathan Edwards

The fire is currently burning to the east of Dunedoo and moving north towards Black Stump Way, Leadville and Coolah.

Although conditions are easing, people in the areas of Leadville, Turill, Cassilis and Coolah are being urged to remain vigilant.

HOMES LOST IN WAUCHOPE

AT LEAST two houses have been lost on the mid north coast after a catastrophic fire ripped through an area west Wauchope, inland from Port Macquarie over the weekend.

The fires ripped through Pappinbarra Road at Beechwood and moved in a northerly direction.

Homes in the the areas of Hollisdale, Lower Pappinbarra and Beechwood continued to be under threat late on Sunday evening.

Although conditions eased throughout the night, the fire was still burning on Monday.

Burned-out vehicles outside a home destroyed at Dondingalong near Kempsey. Picture: Frank Redward

The RFS said increased humidity and decreased winds expected to give crews the upper hand as they continued to battle the blaze.

It said roads may be closed at short notice and that residents should remain vigilant and follow directions from firefighters.

Fire and Rescue Inspector Rod Chetwynd worked hard throughout the weekend to save as many homes as they could.

“Hot, dangerous and frustrating,” he wrote on Facebook.

I feel for the poor people that aren’t in their own beds up our way tonight. The crews worked very hard to save what we did but we couldn’t get to everything,” he said.

Fire burning in NSW.

Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said 20-plus were still uncontained this morning, after blazes burnt across “a very large area” consuming everything in their path.

But cooler temperatures today, after yesterday’s catastrophic conditions, will help crews gain an upper hand.

“We know there is clearly losses. Losses in homes, losses in buildings, losses in livestock and other agricultural assets,” he told the Nine Network.

“The extraordinary effort of firefighters. What they saved yesterday will far outweigh the losses that we report today. I know that is cold comfort for those who have lost so much and I don’t mean any disrespect or being insensitive, but we cannot take away from the amount of property, people, livelihoods that have been saved under yesterday’s conditions.”

A wall of smoke can be seen in the background between Merriwa and Cassilis in the central west. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Fire crews approach the blackened skies over Dunedoo. Picture: Jeremy Piper.

“Some volunteers fighting to save other people’s properties actually lost their own,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters at RFS headquarters in Sydney when thanking all those who’d fought the blazes.

Two firefighters required hospital treatment, Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.

The massive bushfire near Dunedoo in the state’s Central West has burned more than 40,000 hectares.

The view from the RFS plane of the Sir Ivan Fire, in the NSW Central West, which breached containment lines.

Fire and smoke from Leadville, east of Dunedoo.

ALLEGED ARSONISTS ARRESTED

Sickeningly, despite yesterday’s horrendous danger, three suspected firebugs were arrested over the weekend, accused of deliberately starting fires in Orange, Mangrove Mountain on the Central Coast and Nabiac on the north coast.

A 13-year-old boy was ­arrested over a fire in an industrial part of Orange on Saturday. A 40-year-old man was detained at the scene of the Central Coast fire early yesterday morning. And last night a 32-year-old man was be taken to Forster Police Station over the Nabiac blaze.

“It beggars beliefs that on a very hot day yesterday somebody would light a fire,” Mr Fitzsimmons said.

A grass fire on William Street, Orange. Picture: Gavin Coote

Despite the unprecedented dangers, there was no loss of life, no significant injuries to firefighters and limited property damage.

One member of the public was flown to hospital in Lismore late yesterday after being burned by a fire along Binalong Rd, Boggabri, in the state’s northwest, between Narrabri and Gunnedah.

Thick smoke could be seen in dozens of areas across the state yesterday. Picture: Jeremy Piper

But it could have been so much worse. There were 2500 firefighters deployed across the state, some Fire And Rescue, but most volunteers ready to put their lives on the line for their community.

Also ready to leap into action were more than 50 aircraft, including helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, among them water bombers borrowed from Victoria.