‘Mega fire’ forms as blazes on NSW-Victoria border join up
Three fires raging at an emergency level on the NSW-Victoria border have merged into a predicted “mega fire”, now burning across more than 572,000ha. Meanwhile an RFS firefighter has been flown to hospital with burns to his face. LATEST UPDATES
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Three fires raging at an emergency level on the NSW-Victoria border have merged into a predicted “mega fire”, now burning across more than 572,000ha.
An RFS spokesman confirmed the 310,000ha Dunns Rd fire had merged with the 29,000ha East Ournie Creek blaze about 8pm.
The East Ournie Creek fire had earlier joined with the 233,000ha Green Valley fire.
All three blazes have now been upgraded to an emergency level.
Meanwhile an RFS firefighter has been flown to Wagga Base Hospital with burns to his face suffered earlier on Friday while fighting a blaze at Shannons Flat in the Snowy Mountains.
Other fires continue to burn at a watch and act level as the Rural Fire Service are closely monitoring conditions overnight.
In the Southern Highlands, at least five buildings have been razed by the fast moving Morton fire in the Southern Highlands.
Water bombing aircraft this evening buzzed over the small town of Penrose, which borders the Wingello State Forest, making the most of the quickly fading light dropping megalitres of water every minute.
By 6.30pm there were six buildings destroyed at the Sunnataram Forest Monastery including a shed and multiple cabins.
With aircraft unable to fly during darkness, firefighters are being stationed near Bundanoon.
The southerly wind change, expected around midnight, will push the blaze towards the town.
The RFS is concerned about a flank of the Moreton fire which spotted towards the town.
It had been contained yesterday afternoon but the southerly wind will push it closer to town.
Earlier, an emergency level fire threatening lives and properties near Coonabarabran, in northern NSW, was downgraded to watch and act level.
Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said that blaze, which was upgraded to the highest level at 4pm, had been heading in a south easterly direction and forcing rural residents to seek shelter properties but the situation has now calmed down.
There are now currently no emergency level bushfirest in NSW.
However a new bushfire has broken out in the Blue Mountains today and is burning at a watch and act level.
“Both of these new fires, the one in Coonabarabran and the one in the Blue Mountains, appear to at early stages suggest lightning strikes.
“There has been lightning activity through there in recent days … we have a long afternoon still to go and a long night still to go,” Mr Fitzsimmons said.
“In a number of locations different fires have joined. At the end of today and with what happens overnight we will end up in another complex of fires that all joined up to create another large challenge.”
Fire Spread Prediction for Fri 10 Jan 2020 - Southern Coast. Severe to Extreme fire danger is forecast for parts of NSW tomorrow, including southern areas of the state. These conditions will make fire behaviour erratic and dangerous. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/mJ0VHHOB9y
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 9, 2020
Mr Fitzsimmons said the Blue Mountains fire, which was burning north of Faulconbridge, was currently posing no risk to homes but was remote and difficult to access.
“Our best option at the moment is to use aircraft and douse that fire as much as we can to slow its spread and slow its intensity,” he said.
“We’ve got nine other fires in the south of the state which have been increased to watch and act alert level.”
Mr Ftizsimmons said bushfires in the Snowy Mountains region surrounding multiple ski resorts were not spreading adversely at this stage.
“But we still have got a fair few hours to go before we can say those areas are risk free,” he said.
“There is certainly a reprieve to the conditions we are experiencing today over the next week or so but having said that it’s still a dry atmosphere … the benefit of that is that over the coming week there is the chance for some stability.”
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the day had shaped up to be what authorities expected.
“Outside of those two new fires, everything else was as we expected. Fortunately those fire fronts which were around Eden and Bega are at the stage we thought they would be, they are not any worse,” she said.
“They are quite contained at this stage although they are at watch and act level.”
PREPARING FOR A BIG DAY
Earlier today Mr Fitzsimmons said more than 130 fires continued to burn across the state, with more than 50 of those uncontained.
“We want people out, into safer places and the maps identify a number of towns and villages where you would better off going for the day and not being in harm’s way,” Mr Fitzsimmons said.
“The firegrounds are going to be tested and, as we have seen in the last couple of months, we only need an ember or two to get out to start an outbreak and start presenting challenges.
“The conditions are difficult because we’ll see hot temperatures, high 30s, low 40s across parts of NSW. It’s the hot, dry winds that will prove once again to be the real challenge.”
Winds of 35-50km/h with gusts of 70-90kmh will make conditions difficult for the 2500 firefighter on the frontline before a southerly change around 4pm changes the direction of flames.
The RFS has placed total fire bans on 10 regions across the state and an extreme fire warning is in place for the southern slopes while severe fire warnings have been issued for four other southern regions.
Major towns including Eden, Batemans Bay and Nowra could come under fresh threat, as well as Tumbarumba, Batlow and areas east of Albury.
Authorities, meanwhile, have confirmed that 1995 NSW homes have been destroyed since the start of the fire season. More than 1079 have been confirmed destroyed in 2020 alone.
Almost 200 facilities and 3774 outbuildings have also been razed and 20 people confirmed dead.
ADF KNUCKLES DOWN FOR TOUGH FIGHT
More than 1,600 Australian Defence Force reservists have also been deployed to bushfire grounds across the country as emergency services brace for more horror conditions on the east coast.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in NSW and the ACT the current operational focus was on re-establishing power to blacked out communities.
“There have been thousands of homes and customers who have been reconnected just in recent days but there are still many without power,” he said.
“It is also about getting emergency support to impacted areas and tackling the damage and risk to key infrastructure, such as transmission lines, generators and there has been a particular effort through the defence force of supporting what is occurring at the Eden woodchip mill.”
More than 1600 Australian Defence Force reservists have also been deployed to bushfire grounds across the country as emergency services brace for more horror conditions on the east coast.
Mr Morrison said Naval assets remained off the south coast of NSW, supporting reconnaissance and prepared to assist with evacuations, while ADF medical personnel have been provided to Tumut Hospital and Batemans Bay.
“I should stress with the positioning of these assets, particularly the HMAS Adelaide and the Choules, that we are a long way from the end of this crisis and this disaster,” he said.
“Their prepositioning along the coast is very important. These are significant assets with significant capabilities and provide a staging post to render any amount of assistance as required.”
“I should stress with the positioning of these assets, particularly the HMAS Adelaide and the Choules, that we are a long way from the end of this crisis and this disaster,” he said.
“Their prepositioning along the coast is very important. These are significant assets with significant capabilities and provide a staging post to render any amount of assistance as required.”
Mr Morrison said Victoria and NSW were about to go into some “difficult days” and the ADF would be on hand to assist.
“Everything from helicopters and engineering equipment and fully-staffed medical facilities will prove vital in the event they need to be called on at a moment’s notice,” he said.
Originally published as ‘Mega fire’ forms as blazes on NSW-Victoria border join up