NSW bushfires: Gospers Mountain fire downgraded to watch and act
The dangerous Gospers Mountain bushfire was downgraded to watch and act level just before midnight on Tuesday after residents had earlier been warned to seek shelter as the fire approached Colo Heights north of Sydney yesterday afternoon.
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The dangerous Gospers Mountain bushfire was downgraded to watch and act level just before midnight on Tuesday after residents had earlier been warned to seek shelter.
From 7pm, the blaze began to flare and approach the Colo Heights area north of Sydney and residents were warned to seek shelter.
A home was burned down in this area on Friday night.
NSW Rural Fire Service Inspector Ben Shepherd said the fire picked up quite dramatically around 7pm and was burning toward the Putty Road.
“We’ve had reports that in some areas it may have even crossed the Putty Road or Wheelbarrow Creek area,” Inspector Shepherd said.
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A southerly change is expected to cross the fireground over the next hour which may increase fire activity and force the fire to burn north towards Putty Valley and Yengo Drive.
Inspector Shepherd said it was too late for residents to leave and they needed to take shelter in a solid structure.
RFS earlier on Tuesday afternoon advised the following communities to implement their bushfire survival plan and prepare properties for the impact of fires with conditions on the Gospers Mountain firefront set to worsen.
Gunderman, Spencer, Mangrove Creek, Upper Mangrove, Kulnura, Calga/Mt White, Peats Ridge, Glenworth Valley, Wendoree Park along with Peats Ridge Rd, George Downes Drive and Wiseman’s Ferry Rd, all stand to be impacted.
The Gospers Mountain fire was upgraded to Watch and Act this morning, with residents of the Hawkesbury and Central Coast to remain on high alert as the fire continues to move.
Heavy smoke from the fire, which is now at more than 143,000ha, blanketed Sydney and the Central Coast this morning.
The fire is burning in the Wollemi and Yengo National Parks, and Parr State Recreation areas.
Fire activity is ramping up on the western side of the fire towards Colo Heights today.
Firefighters have been backburning close to properties around Wisemans Ferry, Webb Creek, Grey Gums and Yengo Drive to contain the fire.
Just before 3pm a NSWRFS spokeswoman said back burning surrounding Wisemans Ferry has broken containment lines at Webb’s Creek.
“We are working to contain that line and aircraft are assisting with observation and water bombing,” she said.
“We need residents to react to bushfire warnings and their own survival plans.
We are doing what we can to consolidate and we are preparing for deteriorating weather conditions this afternoon.”
Residents at Colo Heights were on high alert today as sweltering heat means they are preparing for the worst.
A single siren at the Rural Fire Service station on Putty Rd rings out as dense smoke chokes up the air.
Concerned homeowners are reporting to the brigade shed, updating exhausted volunteers on the back burning efforts that are working to protect properties surrounded by thick bush.
The community is doing all that they can to pitch in to support the work of volunteer firefighters, who only return to replenish supplies and update other volunteers on their efforts.
“Neighbours are doing all they can to protect each other and their homes,” one resident said. “We have seen families hire their own bobcats to build containment lines behind home, which will allow the RFS to back burn and slow the fires down.
“But this fire isn’t worth losing your life.”
Shortly before midday fire engulfed a pine tree farm at 333 Wheelbarrow Ridge Rd, Colo Heights. Crews from Regentville were forced to scramble to safety.
Fire crews retreated to a clearing nearby, narrowly escaping a blaze that surrounded trucks as they worked to establish containment lines.
One volunteer said it was one of the fastest fires he’s seen at the Gospers Mountain blaze.
“Things went ugly very quickly,” he said. “I have never seen the firefront move that quickly and this is the first time we have been overrun.
“That was also the first time I have even been in the truck with the sprinklers in play.”
NSW Rural Fire Service inspector Ben Shepherd said areas in and around St Albans and Central and Upper Mangrove were also areas of focus with the Gospers Mountain Fire.
People in those areas are urged to activate their bushfire survival plan and monitor conditions.
The temperature at Spencer has already hit 30 degrees with an expected top of 34 degrees by 2pm today and winds coming from the west/north west at 11km/h.
Temperatures are expected to begin to ease from 5pm with a southerly change expected around 8pm.
Evacuation efforts continue at the Australian Walkabout Wildlife Park at Calga today.
The park has moved more than 100 animals in the past two days, with the remaining animals to be moved in the coming days.
Two wombats were flown to Featherdale Wildlife Park yesterday afternoon where they will remain until the fire danger eases.
Glenworth Valley Outdoor Adventures owner Barton Lawler said the park had put in place a bushfire plan.
“We feel that due to the large open areas available at Glenworth Valley that there are ample areas for horses to be take safe refuge without any major dramas,” he said.
“It may come as a surprise but in our circumstances if horses are located in a suitable safe refuge area they normally do not get worried by approaching bushfires but we are certainly monitoring the situation around the clock and are working closely with the authorities.”
A meeting has been planned at Mangrove Mountain Memorial Hall on Wednesday night from 7pm.
On Tuesday afternoon the quiet holiday hamlet of Spencer seemed like a ghost town, with the RFS warning that conditions are set to worsen into the evening.
However, for those that remained there was no sense of panic or urgency.
In fact, a few of the locals were down at the famous Dunkirk Hotel enjoying a beer.
One local resident said there was no need to panic with the town on the water’s edge.
Malaluka Caravan Park owner Donna Buchanan said while it was business as usual at the park, they were setting themselves up as an evacuation spot.
“We’ve put it out on Facebook telling people to come down if they need,” she said.
“The water’s edge is a safe zone. The people of Marlow also know they can evacuate here if needed.”
She said while she had heard of some elderly people packing and leaving the area, most people were just making sure they are ready if the threat worsens.
“As long as we don’t get the north westerly wind. That’s where the fire is,” she said.
Another local, who did not wish to be named, said “we don’t know how long the fire will last. Some people are saying it will inevitably come this way.”