NSW bushfires: One home lost in Currowan fire down the south coast
The threat posed by south coast bushfires continues as firefighters battle to protect homes and property. New pictures and video reveal the horrendous task they still face in difficult conditions.
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The Currowan Fire burning north of Batemans Bay has been downgraded to watch and act as firefighters continue to battle to bring the blaze under control.
The southern edge of the blaze had been burning towards East Lynne and Benandarah on Tuesday.
The fire, north of Batemans Bay, crossed the Princes Highway yesterday and has been burning to the north of, and adjacent to, Mt Agony Road, tearing through more than 47,000ha of bushland.
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Sadly one home is understood to have been lost in the blaze, as well as some other structures, however locations are not yet known.
On Monday, crews defended properties overnight in the Bundle Hill area and were in the vicinity of Kioloa to provide property protection if required.
Crews also successfully defended multi-million dollar equestrian centre Willinga Park at Bawley Point overnight, after fire spread to part of the famous property around 10pm on Monday.
Terrifying video shows firefighters making the decision whether it was too dangerous to stay and fight the blaze.
The footage shows thick smoke and embers falling on the truck as fireys survery the scene.
The highway remains closed between Burrill Lake and the Kings Highway turnoff in both directions, as firefighters work to contain the blaze.
More than 200 firefighters were on the ground to battle the fire on Tuedsay with aviation assets to increase their presence.
The state’s bushfire risk was heightened on Monday due to strong, damaging winds feeding 129 fires across the state.
“We have only seen a little bit of movement from the fires, which has been fortunate, across the fireground. The most movement has been on the fires burning near the South Coast,” a RFS spokesman said.
“In the past 24 hours, we have seen more structural loss (on Tuesday). The majority of this appears to have happened on the South Coast. It is still too dangerous to send the building impact inspectors in so we do not know the full extent of the damage.”
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting the winds will drop but temperatures to rise this week.
“The wind is dropping on Monday evening and will be around 15km to 25km in Sydney around sunrise on Tuesday,” BOM forecaster Schuang Wang said.
“They will remain as a westerly but temperatures will increase across the state on Wednesday and Thursday to around 28C or even 30C in some parts.”
Firefighters in Queensland are preparing for scorching conditions with 40C expected in Rockhampton, in central Queensland, on Tuesday and temperatures above 30C forecast for the rest of the state.
Since July, bushfires have burnt through more than two million hectares in NSW.
There has been more than 7000 fires raging across the state in the “most challenging bushfire season ever”.
Among the carnage six people have died while 673 homes and 1400 other buildings have been destroyed.
FAMILIES FLEE FIRES
Shirley and Peter Redding say they had just minutes to evacuate their Kioloa home on the NSW South Coast on Sunday evening, as the Currowan bushfire broke containment lines and almost doubled in size under strong westerly winds.
The couple live just metres from the bush, and chose to leave their home under the advice of police and Rural Fire Service (RFS) crews, not knowing just how severe the fire had become.
“I got such a shock, our neighbour, she’s a firey, she came across the road and said you’ve got to leave, you’ve got to get out,” Mrs Redding said.
“We saw a lot of smoke but we didn’t realise how close it was.”
By Monday morning, the fire was burning out-of-control in the Bimberamala and Murramarang national parks and had jumped the Princes Highway, destroying more than 11,000ha of bushland.
By Monday afternoon, that number had increased to 16,000ha, with the fire quickly spreading east toward small coastal communities of Kioloa, Termeil, East Lynne, Bawley Point, North Durras and Pretty Beach.
On Monday afternoon, Mr and Mrs Redding, who spent the night in Ulladulla after evacuating, were told fire retardant had been dropped over their home in an effort to protect it from the blaze.
“Our friend who stayed behind told us, we saw photos and there’s pink everywhere,” Mrs Redding said.
“We’ve never been in a situation like this and it’s actually really, very scary,” she said.
While she, her husband and her two dogs were safe, Mrs Redding said they were very worried about their home, where they’ve lived for the past five years.
“I’ve never been so anxious in my life, I tipped a cup of tea all over the floor earlier,” she said.
Early on Monday morning, the Princes Highway was closed between Termeil and the Kings Highway turn off, cutting access to coastal communities in the area.
The RFS warned those living in areas between Kioloa and North Durras, including Depot Beach, Pebbly Beach, Pretty Beach and Bawley Point, that it was too late to leave earlier this morning.
Liza Butler, who lives in Bawley Point with her partner Barry and son Brendan was one of the residents who chose to stay home rather than evacuate on Sunday evening.
“We feel more comfortable here, and our place is pretty well cleared around it,” she said.
“We prepared the house about two weeks ago, cleaned out the gutters, raked up all the bark and leaves because it’s just so dry.”
On Monday afternoon, Ms Butler said the wind hadn’t picked up as much as what was anticipated, and that things “seemed okay” for the moment.
“It (the wind) comes and then it goes, it seems to pick up and die off,” she said.
“It is smoky but it’s not as bad as it was on Monday. It’s kind of weird, we are just waiting.”
Ms Butler said the main threat her family was facing on Monday afternoon was ember attack, but that they’d prepared to fight any spot fires.
“We’ve got buckets of water strategically placed around the place, wet towels ready to go,” she said.
While she hasn’t had a lot of sleep, she was comforted by the fact RFS crews were driving around Bawley Point and keeping in constant contact with residents.
“We didn’t sleep very much, we were up drinking tea at 1am after getting the emergency warning,” she said.
“But I feel confident, the crews on the ground are erring on the side of caution and telling us to be ready, but I feel okay now because they are everywhere.”
By late Monday afternoon, RFS crews said fire activity was increasing under strong, gusty north-easterly winds, and was burning toward Termeil. More than 100 firefighters and approximately 50 appliances are currently battling the blaze in a joint operation that includes RFS, fire and rescue, police and national parks.
Water-bombing aircrafts could be seen flying over the eastern side of the highway for much of the afternoon, in an effort to slow the spread of the fire.
The emergency warning is expected to stay in place for some time, as firefighters work against difficult conditions.
An out of control bushfire in the Blue Mountains is now under control.
