North Head fire: 90 hectares of bush burned, animals feared perished, walking paths destroyed
A blaze at North Head that destroyed 90 hectares of land, 80 more than planned, has been described as shocking and ‘a tragedy’ for the lost wildlife. See the amazing images taken by a world renowned photographer.
Manly
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Up to 90ha of land at North Head have been destroyed following Saturday’s fire which started as a hazard reduction burn, but jumped containment lines.
The planned operation by National Parks was meant to burn just 10ha of land.
However, the blaze broke through containment lines on Saturday afternoon on what ended up being quite a windy day.
Up to 200 people had to be evacuated from the area, including people staying at the Quarantine Station and the TV production crew at the Big Brother house.
Inspector Ben Shepherd from the Rural Fire Service said six of his trucks arrived in the afternoon when the operation turned into a full scale emergency.
“It was a spectacular fire,” he said.
“Once it was established it progressed quite quickly.
“Coastal heath burns fast.”
He said people were evacuated from several buildings as a precaution.
He said the blaze burned an area of around 90 hectares and damaged some of the walking paths.
He said the RFS crews had to back burn to stop the fire heading north.
The fire was allowed to burn all the way back to the end of the headland.
Photojournalist Matthew Abbott, who covered the Australian bushfires this year and whose work has been published around the world including in the New York Times, said he never expected to be shooting pictures of a huge bushfire on his doorstep at North Head.
Mr Abbott, 35, who lives at Fairy Bower, said flames were as high as 20m at one point.
“The fire had a lot of momentum,” he said.
“I was shocked at how bad this fire was.
“A huge area has been destroyed. It’s extraordinary. It’s a real tragedy.”
In one of Mr Abbott’s images he caught a possum fleeing for it’s life with the blaze behind.
Insp Shepherd defended National Park’s decision to go ahead with the hazard reduction burn despite some wind.
He said the forecast fire hazard for that day was low to moderate, but that a hazard reduction burn is never risk free.
“Anytime we light the bush there’s a risk that embers will spot past containment lines,” Insp Shepherd said.
“There’s a lot of planning and preparation. It’s very difficult.
“You don’t just throw a match into the bush.”
He said while people like to criticise, he warned that this work was essential and that only 30 per cent of the hazard reduction work on the northern beaches has been completed ahead of the bushfire season.
He said a wet winter and autumn meant conditions were not right for hazard reduction burns.
He said hazard reduction burns were needed in Terrey Hills and Duffys Forest.
“The onus shouldn’t be only on the fire fighters and the agencies,” Insp Shepherd said.
“If you live in these areas you should be preparing for bushfires.”
He said while a wet spring and summer was forecast it only needed a week of warm weather in Sydney for conditions to be ripe for a bushfire.
The Manly Daily has requested a comment from National Parks.
Meanwhile, Cr Pat Daley, said he will investigate who pays for the damage to the footpaths following the incident.