Residents flee Blue Mountains town ahead of heatwave
Residents in the Blue Mountains town of Bowen Mountain are holding onto their most precious belongings as they prepare to flee — with fire conditions expected to worsen next week. What would you take?
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Baby books, passports, new Christmas presents and paintings belonging to great grandparents — these are just some of the treasured items being held closely by the locals in Bowen Mountain as the Gospers Mountain inferno stalks their backyard.
The tight-knit community in Sydney’s northwest — which has only one route in and out — is at the footsteps of the mega blaze that has already destroyed 500,000ha of land and locals say, staying to fight is not an option.
Mum-of-two Kate Millgate has grown up in the Hawkesbury region and was today at her parents house in Bowen Mountain packing up precious memories of her sons Flynn, 4 and Reuben, 1, as the family prepares to flee the region.
“I’m in the area staying with my parents for Christmas. We came down on Boxing Day. It’s been nerve wracking. My parents have had to evacuate for a few days. This time we are not staying too long as it’s meant to heat up again and we’d like to be gone by then,” she told The Saturday Telegraph.
“My mum has been glued to the app, she gets alerts constantly but then it’s really hard to leave and sit and watch the fire headed here. There are a lot of false alarms that pop up on Facebook and there is a lot of misinformation in the area.
“Me and my husband live in Upper Hunter and we are the same, we have our bags that are ready to go with essential paperwork, sentimental stuff, baby books, and the photos are the main things.”
Ms Millgate said the family had been on edge in the week before Christmas, unsure if they would be able to celebrate at her family home with the only road headed in the direction closed to motorists.
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“The days before Christmas were hard because we didn’t know if we would be able to come down (to Bowen Mountain) or if there would even be a house left to have Christmas in.”
Local Daniel Meyers’s home also backs into the bush and the risk of the blaze coming to his doorstep has been on the train driver’s mind throughout Christmas.
The single storey house which he shares with his partner is littered in bags full of their clothes, shoes, and electronics. The rest of their life already packed up and sent for safekeeping with friends and family.
“I have nothing but half my possessions left in here. Most of my belongings have gone off to friends’ places. I have sent the important stuff like heirlooms and valuables, paintings and various things belonging to my great-grandmother,” he said.
Among the havoc is the couple’s decorated Christmas tree, but any signs of presents are gone and all that’s left is things Mr Meyers is happy to leave behind should he have to run.
“I’ve got a storage locker in Lithgow with a lot of valuables but that has just escaped the fire. Christmas was very stressful, I came back on Sunday and my partner came back on Christmas Day and we put the pets over at a friend’s house,” he said.
“Saturday was also very scary because we weren’t here and we were just watching the news from our family’s place and the fire was expected to come here but the wind changed at the right time.
“From all the advice we’ve had, there is not much point in staying. There’s just a single deck between us and the bush.”
Neighbour Sarah Cassim said the festive season had the entire community on edge.
“Last weekend was a scary one but the wind changed at the right time. Unfortunately Bilpin copped it but we are all on edge given it’s so close now,” she said.
“We’ve packed away our sons favourite toys, all their special things are the most important so we have locked it all away. Photos and things from our grandparents are also stuff we have packed away.”
Ms Cassim said for the safety of her young sons, she and her partner were planning on leaving if the fire comes any closer.
“There are some residents who are going to stay and fight but we are not one of those people. We can’t do it with the kids, it’s too risky,” she said.
“Christmas is not the best time for these sorts of things to happen but our thoughts are with the people who have lost everything and especially their businesses and livelihoods. It really hits home when they are our neighbours. I know as a community we will support each other.”