Northmead fire: Residents urged to have a bushfire plan
The owners of a heritage-listed property in Sydney’s west have been spotted returning to the fire-ravaged home, as officials issued a strong message to homeowners regarding bushfires.
Parramatta
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The owners of the fire-ravaged home at Northmead made a fleeting return to the heritage-listed property on Monday morning, as fire officials urged city dwellers not to be complacent about having a plan.
The owners of the heritage-listed double-storey sandstone house at Whitehaven Rd rented the property to three doctors who work at Westmead Hospital.
They did not inspect the property damage but spoke briefly to police who were scouring Moxham Park, where the blaze ignited before embers flew across and raced through the home.
Fire and Rescue NSW investigator Michael Forbes said an ember flew from the park on to the house, where leaves clogged the gutters and the sloped tin roof made it vulnerable to the blaze.
“I think the weather was not in their favour and also the construction of the house has aided the fire development because of the angle of the roof — it’s quite steep,’’ he said.
The fire began at the park just before 1pm and encroached on the battle-axe property less than an hour later, when fire destroyed the top level and water damage ruined the ground floor.
“One of the firefighters commented to me that he had never felt so hot in his life,’’ Mr Forbes said.
The fear was heightened for the Campbell-Rogers family.
Dad Chris is a wheelchair-bound paraplegic and has limited mobility but he and wife Nicole agreed to put out spot fires before evacuating.
“I have more limited mobility so I’m not going to be climbing any fences. If it was a really big fire, we would need to leave really early.’’
Mrs Campbell-Rogers praised her children Eleanor, 18, and 16-year-old twins Erica and Peter for hosing down three neighbouring properties and dousing spot fires after initially seeing the fire at the park that backs on to their homes before racing outside to see it at Moxham Park.
“We felt there wasn’t an immediate danger to ourselves,’’ she said.
“The car was packed, though, I have to say, with photos and laptops.
“We’d actually discussed it in the morning and our fire plan was to put out spot fires if we could and if we were threatened, to pack our things and go. And go to Moira Reserve (meeting point).
Mr Campbell-Rogers said the poor water pressure made it difficult to clean litter from the roof of their double-storey home.
A resident of the area, Vicki Lazos, raced to neighbours’ homes, including the house that was destroyed, when the inferno broke out yesterday.
“I knocked on the door when the fire came and I knocked and saw someone and said ‘Fire, fire, get out’ and the police told me they left straight after that.’’
Tim Watton, who lives two doors down from the damaged home, said the burning canopies almost encroached on his property.
“If it wasn’t for the water bombers, the devastation would have been worse,’’ he said.
Neighbours Vera and Ronald Patane were cherry picking in Young when the fire broke out and spent Monday morning cleaning soot from their home next door.
“We keep the gutters clean, we keep the rubbish away from the place and keep the trees trimmed as much as possible,’’ Mrs Patane said.
Mr Forbes urged the public to maintain their yards and keep them free of fire fuel.
“Clean your gutters,’’ he said.
“You’ve got to have a bushfire plan, especially when you live on the fringes, especially after last season. Just because you live in the city doesn’t mean you’re not going to be affected. You’ve got to prepare yourself.’’
The fire has prompted resident Annette Cross to devise a fire plan.
“Because I never, ever really thought it was plausible that we would have a fire but it happened so very, very quickly and without the fire brigade our fire hoses wouldn’t be able to put it out,’’ she said.
”I thought, because last year was incredibly dry and there was rain over winter, it was totally unexpected.’’
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