Locals face nervous wait after fires tear through Adelaide River, Batchelor, Dorat Rd, Lake Bennett
AS the frontline of a bushfire tore through shrubs and gamba grass southwest of Batchelor, Finniss Valley woman Deanne Broome and her daughter watched on in fear
Northern Territory
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AS the frontline of a bushfire tore through shrubs and gamba grass southwest of Batchelor, Finniss Valley woman Deanne Broome and her daughter Kayla, 9, watched on in fear.
Helicopters dumped loads of water on the blaze near Fowler Road, before water bombers began assisting ground crews in building containment lines.
Ms Broome had been in contact with her partner, who was at the Scott Road property, trying to work out if he and their home was safe.
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“We’ve been here six years now and I’ve tried to rush home quickly to help my partner save our stuff, if there is anything,” she said.
“I’ve never seen it this bad, not even this close. The closest thing to a fire we’ve had would have been four years ago, but it was nothing to this extent.”
But with authorities blocking the road to ensure the safety of as many people as possible, Ms Broome just hoped she had done enough.
“We do have our fire break from around our yard and leading up to our property, but the grass is 3m high,” she said.
Unable to see her property behind the plumes of black smoke, she waited to see what would be left.
“You can see the smoke will be through the house,” she said.
“We’ve got boats, quad bike, stuff in the yards, our dogs – we’ve got an old bath tub for them to drink out of.
“I just am hoping they are in the yard. It’s pretty scary.”
The Chief Fire Control Officer, Bushfires NT and the Director of NT Fire and Rescue Service have declared a 24-hour fire ban period from midnight on Friday for Darwin and Adelaide River, Daly South, Gregory, Carpentaria West Fire Weather Forecast Areas and the Northern and Katherine Fire Protection Zones.
Bushfires NT incident control officer Joshua Fischer said Stuart Highway had reopened after being closed due to a fire on Strickland Road, but traffic management was still in place.
“Traffic control remains in place as there is heavy smoke still in the area,” he said. “We’ve prioritised the aircraft to another fire (in Batchelor). We’re confident strategies in place will contain the fire.”
Late on Thursday a Humpty Doo man was fined $632 for lighting an illegal fire on his property.
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Mr Fischer said there had been a small reignition at Lake Bennett’s Echidna Road, while two new fires south of Adelaide River were being watched by firefighters. There also was a fire on Tipperary Station in the Douglas Daly Region, which is a pastoral station.
Originally published as Locals face nervous wait after fires tear through Adelaide River, Batchelor, Dorat Rd, Lake Bennett