NSW bushfires: Gospers Mountain fire meetings tell residents to prepare
Residents in the path of a huge bushfire north west of the Central Coast have been told today to get ready. If you’ve had blackened leaves falling at your place, this warning’s for you too.
Central Coast
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The monster fire burning in rugged wilderness north west of Gosford is expected to reach the Central Coast within a week, a community meeting has been told.
Central Coast Rural Fire Service spokesman Stuart O’Keefe pulled no punches when he told Spencer area residents the large and dangerous Gospers Mountain fire was headed east toward them and urged them to prepare.
VAST BLAZE
“The message is the fire will come into the Central Coast local government area in a week or so – it might be quicker, it might be a little bit longer than that – but it’s coming,” Mr O’Keefe said.
The Gospers Mountain fire is already vast, having burned out more than 100,000 hectares – 15,000 of them just yesterday when the blaze threatened the Colo Heights community and was escalated to emergency warning level.
WATCH AND ACT
While it has now been downgraded to watch and act status, the Rural Fire Service warns nobody should be complacent with dangerous fire conditions expected to redevelop in coming days, as temperatures hit the mid-30s and beyond.
“It’s going to be a very, very large fire and we’ve been talking to some of our more experienced people and previous serious fires that impacted on this region started just like this one,” Mr O’Keefe said.
“The problem is that that it’s pretty much burning in wilderness area with little to no access and little to no ability to have short control containment areas,” he said.
“The next control lines for us are really Wollemi Rd and the Great North Rd which really aren't adequate areas to conduct large backburning operations.”
Mr O’Keefe said the best guess was that the fire would enter the Central Coast region somewhere along a 70km line stretching from the Hawkesbury River settlement of Gundaman, north to the locality of Bucketty.
FIRING LINE
This would put scores of farms and homes in the firing line including the villages of Gundaman, Spencer, Mangrove Mountain, Central Mangrove, Kulnura and Yarramalong.
He said relocating to somewhere safer was the best option, but if people planned to stay and defend they needed a well developed fire plan and proper equipment.
“We are not going to get to everybody – that’s a fact – so please don’t be caught short expecting us to turn up at the very right moment that you need us,” Mr O'Keefe said.
“We will dour very best but at the end of the day we are human beings and we cannot drive through 60 metre flame height – you may be on your own for a period of time and preparation is the key.”
TERRIFYING TWIST
In a final terrifying twist, Mr O’Keefe warned that the Gospers Mountain Fire had already spawned a major spotfire ahead of the main fire front.
He said residents who had seen blackened leaves raining down on their Central Coast properties in the past week should think carefully.
“Anyone who thinks this fire was too far away to worry about it - you see blackened leaves falling on your property you are under threat from that bushfire,” Mr O’Keefe said.
“All of those suburbs who had blackened falling leaves were under threat from a bushfire.
“If a live ember lands in combustible material, a fire will start – that’s how it works – most of them start from a flame the size of a match head.”
VERY NERVOUS
Sandra Stanley has lived at Gundaman for 25 years and admits she is very nervous about the fires.
“I was bit complacent to start with but when I saw the colour of the sky and saw the size of the fire on a map, I didn’t know how the RFS could possibly stop it,” she said.
“I came to the meeting because I wanted to get the facts from the experts and know exactly what I should do,” she said.
She said she still well remembered the horor of the 1994 bushfires.
After the meeting a tearful Mrs Stanley said she was more worried than ever, especially about how to keep her animals - including a horse, donkey, dog and cats safe.”