Territory Day: NT Firefighters attend Howard Springs dump fire, receive 570 calls on July 1

A dump fire in the Top End sparked into a tornado, as NT fireys reveal they responded to 570 calls on cracker night. SEE THE PHOTOS.

As thousands celebrated Territory Day, it was the NT’s hard working fireys who kept residents safe, responding to a countless number of fires through the busy night.

With a view to get taste of what the Territory’s local heroes endure, the NT News was given an opportunity to witness their work on a ride-along.

Before the night even started, fire crews had encountered a difficult day.

Structure fires in both Humpty Doo and Yarrawonga forced crew commanders to commit manpower and resources to fight throughout the afternoon.

Concurrently, several grass fires across greater Darwin also needed to be stamped out.

Every street in Darwin had its own stories from overnight.

When this masthead linked up with the fireys at 7pm, every vehicle was committed to dousing out a blaze, except one crew who used their free time to hydrate and gear up.

Moments later, a spot fire was reported at Sanderson Middle School, Malak

On the road, the net was constantly active, with radio silence lasting no longer than a minute before the next job came through.

For some residents, the fires got a bit close for comfort.

Upon arriving in Malak, a group of residents had completed half the job, with the fireys putting out what was left of the blaze in just a few moments.

Within minutes, a structure fire had erupted at Johnston Medical Centre, with a bin at Palmerston Library also alight.

The same crew completed both call-outs within 15 minutes of the call-outs.

Zuccoli was particularly prominent between 8-9pm, with fires on Tuckeroo Boulevard and Zuccoli Primary School attracting plenty of attention.

NT Firefighters were the real MVPs on Territory Day 2025, attending to blazes throughout the busy night.

However, the biggest blaze of the night belonged to Howard Springs when their 50x50m dump went up flames, sparking a tornado.

While the scale of the blaze was massive, a well-planned firebreak circling the burning pile allowed crews to bypass the spectacular bonfire, with a single officer electing to stay behind to keep and eye on it.

With many fireworks set off in isolated areas, some crews were required to navigate beyond satellite imagery, drawing upon their own instinct and local knowledge to traverse off the beaten track.

A volcanic-like eruption in Nightcliff.

In many instances, helpful locals guided crews to their destination.

Closer to the sea, the Esplanade and East Point featured heavily on the radio net as projectiles crash landed into the tree line and scrub throughout the evening.

While the following day’s crew will be less than half of what Cracker Night’s manning was, according to one professional, sometimes it's the morning after the big night that poses the biggest problems.

Members attend to a bin fire in Parap.

Inevitably, some spot fires will continue to persist, said one firey, with the real question being ‘how will the wind be’?

“We’ve had some horrid days,” he said.

“So we’ll wait and see.”

First responders clear the danger in bushland near Zuccoli.

On Wednesday morning, the damage bill arrived.

In 24 hours, NT Fire and Rescue responded to 150 grass fires, 16 rubbish bin fires and a trio of structure fires.

Additionally, two vehicle fires and six automatic fire alarms were attended to.

Beer in-hand, a father enjoys the warmth of an East Point blaze alongside his sons.

Chief Fire Officer Stephen Sewell praised his crew for their hard work.

“Our teams did an outstanding job last night, especially considering the challenging start to the evening with two major structure fires in the afternoon,” he said.

Firefighters say this year’s cracker night was significantly busier than the past two years.

Speaking to media on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Sewell said 570 calls were received in relation to cracker night.

“It was a busy night, significantly more than the past two years,” he said.

“We did experience a high volume of calls.”

He said one homeowner had a particularly close call when a fire broke out in the garage where his fireworks were stored.

“They were lucky they had a working smoke detector that alerted them, which allowed the fire to be contained to that room of origin,” he said.

Chief Fire Officer Sewell said firefighters also had to call police in to attend the Darwin Esplanade due to unsafe practices where someone was trying to light up a shopping trolley full of fireworks with a blow torch.

Chief Fire Officer Stephen Sewell speaking to media after the 2025 cracker night.

“Generally the behaviour towards our staff was quite good, although there were a few instances where people didn’t follow directions from the firefighters that were telling them to extinguish or not fire fireworks into high risk areas,” he said.

”We had all of our assets crewed for the night.

“We had a huge effort from our volunteers out in the rural areas and right across the Territory.”

All the crews pitched in and provided the service that was needed for the night.

“There effort was greatly appreciated.

“A lot of them had either knocked off work early to get themselves prepared to come in for the night and there a quite a few who worked until 3am to extinguish fires to make sure that conditions were safe for today.

“We also stood up volunteers so there were some people that had the capacity to crew and they are back out there today.

“It was a great team effort.”

His counterpart, Bushfires NT executive director Jacqui Forrest, also heaped the praise on her team.

“I want to thank our dedicated volunteers for their hard work and ongoing commitment to their communities,” she said.

Originally published as Territory Day: NT Firefighters attend Howard Springs dump fire, receive 570 calls on July 1