Koolewong fire: At least 18 homes destroyed as NSW braces for more fire danger
The number of homes lost in a Central Coast fire has grown as residents recall the terror of the fast-spreading blaze. Meanwhile authorities warn the battle to contain fires across the state could take days.
The devastation from the Central Coast bushfire dramatically worsened as emergency services were able to examine the full extent of damage as conditions eased on Sunday.
At least 18 homes have been destroyed by a fire at Koolewong, on the southern end of the Central Coast, as officials warn that figure could grow, with firefighters also concerned about the potential spread of fire north due to a gusty change in conditions.
The NSW Rural Fire Service is also battling uncontrolled blazes at Redhead, which flared up overnight near Newcastle and has burnt through 48ha. There are 76 fires burning, 20 of which were not contained.
Exhausted firefighters may not get any reprieve from battling fires until Wednesday, authorities believe.
On Sunday police seized jerry cans that were discovered near where more than a dozen homes were destroyed.
Koolewong resident Dave Scott was watching helicopters firebomb the flames on Sunday afternoon when something unusual caught his attention.
“I looked over to my right and found a couple of jerry cans out of place. Especially on a day that it was, I thought it looked suspicious,” he said.
The jerry cans were sitting near the railway line that runs between Glenrock Parade and Brisbane Waters drive, about 500 metres from where several properties were destroyed.
“I made sure not to touch them because I knew it could be evidence. It could’ve been the trigger to what happened here today,” he said.
Mr Scott alerted the Rural Fire Service, triggering a response from fire investigators, detectives and forensic officers, who spent some time photographing and collecting the items.
NSW Police confirmed the investigation into the fire is still in its “early stages,” saying the jerry cans may form part of their inquiries.
“At this time, nothing is being ruled in or out,” a spokesperson said.
INSIDE THE FIREGROUNDS
Some residents returned on Sunday, after evacuating Koolewong the day prior.
Craig and Sarra Saxon built their Koolewong home in 2000. They survived the 2005 bushfire season and believed they were as prepared as possible for this season.
But when the flames closed in and Craig ran to switch the sprinkler on, nothing happened.
“I was here during the 2005 fires. The thing that was different about this fire was 10 minutes after it started, there was no water pressure,” Mr Saxon said.
“In 2005 we had pressure all day, because there’s a tank at the top of the hill, and whoever’s responsible for it should’ve had it full for bushfire season.”
With the fire roaring towards their street, the couple had only minutes to evacuate.
“It was that close. I just told Sarra to get in the car and take the animals. There was nothing we could do,” he said.
“We’ve lost everything. We managed to save the pets and Sarra grabbed the jewellery and passports, but other than that, everything.”
Among the irreplaceable belongings were two cars with deep sentimental value - a rare 1950s Skoda, one of only two in Australia, and their wedding car, a 1980s BMW convertible.
The Saxons evacuated to the nearby marina, where they could do nothing but watch as their harbourside street went up in flames. They later learned their home had been destroyed after seeing it on the news.
As residents fled, neighbours banded together to help the elderly escape, carrying people to nearby train tracks, cutting through a fence and guiding them to safety.
Another Koolewong resident, Ross, was seen walking along the foreshore of Brisbane Water Drive with a suitcase and whatever he could salvage.
“We only had a few minutes to go back and grab some stuff,” he said.
Elyse Guevara and Nick Gibbs’s Koolewong home was completely destroyed by the fires. They returned to the scene on Sunday afternoon to realise they not only lost their precious mementos as well as their two cats.
Mr Gibbs described the moment he escaped his home, barefoot and clutching his 15-month-old son for dear life.
“I hadn’t been outside all day. It was extremely windy and the ground was bright orange.
“I then noticed the house was on fire, and I just grabbed my 15-month-old son.
“I had my son under my arm and Janice (his mother-in-law) had Betty (their dog) under her arm, and we just ran.
“There was fire on both sides and my son and I were running. I thought, ‘This is not how we go.’ I thought, ‘This could be it.’”
Mr Gibbs then made his way down the road and across the street to the waterfront. He described it as “evil irony”.
“We were sitting in the most beautiful part of Australia, literally sitting there watching our house burn down.”
Ms Guevara said she had hoped their house would be in better shape and said she was “pretty overwhelmed” when she saw the state of their home.
“To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think it would be anywhere near as bad as it turned out to be. I suppose we underestimated it.
“Today’s just about getting the necessities together.”
Ms Rattray (Mr Gibbs’s mother-in-law) struggled to describe the scene that unfolded.
“Honestly, it’s like a TV program. You don’t realise it’s your own home because you don’t think that’s ever going to happen,” she said.
Andrew Birt and his wife, Anne Birt, have lived in the area for 45 years and have been lucky to remain unscathed, despite their neighbours’ homes being destroyed.
Ms Birt said the couple were out during the morning and, when they got home, the house looked perfectly fine.
“It was bloody hot, so I said, ‘Well, today’s a movie day.’ We went and sat in the air-conditioning and, about half an hour later, I heard helicopters overhead. I went outside and could see smoke everywhere.
“We went out onto the deck, and my neighbours were saying, ‘Oh, there are flames around. You might want to hose your deck off a bit.’
“Anyway, I got the hose out, but then the police came by and said, ‘You need to evacuate now.’ So we just left with our phones, car keys and the dog. That was it.”
Ms Birt said their home was fine but described the drive down the road as “terrifying”.
“There were flames across the road that we had to drive through, and the smoke was really thick. It was horrible, terrifying.
“Although a lot of their neighbours’ houses have been destroyed, Ms Birt said everyone’s been supportive.”
Brooke Heyward returned to her home to pick up her pet pig, Pumbaa, who could not be evacuated the day before.
Ms Heyward had been living in Koolewong for 12 years when Saturday’s fire destroyed her home.
She recounted the daunting moments before cops came knocking on her door and described her relief the moment she found out her precious pet was still alive.
Ms Heyward had hung the clothes out the line about an hour and a half before the fire took place, and was unaware her home would be completely engulfed in flames hours later.
“I went back inside and closed my blinds because it was hot, and I got a phone call.
“My mate said, there’s a fire at Koolewong and I thought, oh, okay, it might be just up on the hill, I’ll go out on the veranda.
“When I got out on the veranda, it was all behind my house, probably 20 meters away, so I just rushed out to the back door and grabbed my pet pig, Pumbaa
“He was freaking out, so I tried to get him through the house. I had to push him and pull him and get him down the stairs, because I knew if I could just get him outside, he could run away. Then I got my dog out”.
Clearly emotional, Ms Heyward said her primary concern was her pet pig. She was beyond thrilled to find out Pumbaa was still alive on Sunday morning.
“Oh, look, I was concerned about him, and I just wanted to find him. Once I found him, I knew I could deal with the rest of it.
“My mum put all these Facebook posts out, and my neighbour came back into their house, a couple doors up, and they had seen him, and they gave him a hose and some water.
“They rang my mum, and then my mum got back to me, and I’ve just come straight up here and found him at the back of their house with the sprinkler.
“My biggest concern was getting him safe, and I knew that he’d be smart enough to go wherever the fire wasn’t.
Ms Heyward said as she left her home she could see flames quickly coming up over the car and across the road.
“We just had to drive really quickly through it just to get through that bit.”
Even though her house was burned down, Ms Heyward was grateful for the efforts of the fire brigade.
“They did an absolutely brilliant job containing it, they really got it under control in a really quick time,” she said.
“And I just watched it from a friend’s balcony kind of unfold once we got out. Within an hour and a bit, they had it mostly controlled.
“So I’m just very gracious to them that even though my house burned down, they saved a lot of other houses.”
Koolewong resident of 25 years Nancy Creedy, who lives just 500 metres from the destroyed homes, said she struggled to “believe it was happening”.
“My husband’s hosing the roof and we’ve packed things in the car. We’re just doing what we can,” she said.
“It’s terrible. It’s heartbreaking.”
Two waterbombing helicopters are now concentrating their efforts on Woy Woy Bay, where multiple spot fires are creeping dangerously close to homes.
Benjamin Williams has been living in Tascot for 15 years, and described the scenes that unfolded on Saturday.
“It was on and off. One minute you could see the smoke and then all of a sudden it just went berserk,” he said.
“The fire just spread everywhere, the next thing you know there was flames, jets flying over, dropping of water, yeah, it was very uncertain.
“You could smell it, you could see it. Even just driving along here you could see how far it spread along here, it went all the way around to Phagans Bay.
“It’s absolutely amazing, I’ve never seen anything like it.
Mr Williams said he was concerned for his home and his area hadn’t been backburned for some time, however he was prepared.
“We’re prepared, if something goes wrong we can head straight down to the water, straight to the train tracks.”
Mr Williams said he’s also been doing his bit to help out the local community.
“We just dropped 30 bucks of water to help out the firefighters. Everyone’s into it, the local takeaway shop is giving food away, there is definitely a community spirit backing up the firefighters,” he said.
Lauren Clark lives across the water from Koolewong and said she hasn’t ever seen that many houses lost in a short period.
“We could see flames from the other side of the water. I zoomed in and could see residential properties alight which was extremely concerning.
“I think your first thought is how can you help, how can you do something when you are reasonably helpless.
“Everyone is doing what they can to help.
“Everyone is just feeling overwhelming sadness at this time of year.”
A LONG FIGHT AHEAD
Rural Fire Service Superintendent Ben Shepherd said more than 1500 crew were currently fighting the blaze on the Central Coast and won’t have any reprieve until mid next week.
“It’s important to note some of our firefighters have been battling some of these fires for weeks, especially in the Western Divide we’ve seen some quite devastating fires in croplands … resulting in millions of dollars lost,” he said.
“It has been a busy period but there is a bit of reprieve probably by Wednesday and the back end of this week when there is a chance of shower activity, so I think it will be a well earned rest for many of our fire fighters.”
Mr Shepherd thanked locals for preparing their homes in the event of a fire, noting so far there had not been any reports of serious injuries or death.
He said the extent of fire damage is likely to become clearer over the afternoon.
NSW Premier Chris Minns visited the Gosford RSL this morning to deliver a statewide update on the devastating fires which have resulted in 18 homes lost on the Central Coast.
“There are no evacuation orders in place at the moment, but there are watch and act orders,” he said.
“If you’re in a bushfire prone area, if you’ve been notified through the hazards near me app, we ask you to keep your eye on the weather conditions as well as consult the emergency broadcaster and the hazards near me app.”
Mr Minns said circumstances on the Central Coast have been very difficult for families in the past 24 hours.
“There’s been rainfall overnight, but there’s also been a change in wind, and we’re asking people to be careful, particularly if they’re in a community that’s been hit hard by bushfires
“We’ve been able to get emergency accommodation for many families including 25 adults, and two children, who are staying in local hotels.
“No lives have been lost over the last 24 hours. It’s very important that in a difficult summer period, people listen to emergency services. We don’t want any lives lost. We can replace buildings. We can replace homes. We can’t replace people,” he said.
Central Coast Council mayor Lawrie McKinna confirmed the escalating property damage on Sunday morning.
“Yes, actually, 18 houses now have been lost, which is shocking, but more assessment and damage has been done with RFS,” he told Sunrise.
The mayor also spoke about the issues facing the community as the blaze continues to rage on Sunday.
FEARS FIRES COULD SPREAD
Firefighters face newdangers as thunderstorms and strong southerly winds risk pushing blazes into fresh areas as 20 fires still remain uncontained across NSW.
In its latest update the NSW Royal Fire Service confirmed fires were still a “developing situation”.
NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Ben Millington told ABC Breakfast the “key danger for Sunday was winds that would push the fires into a different direction”.
“There’s a potential for the fire to travel to the north, and we’ve crews in place to protect homes should that occur,” he said.
“That wind is now from the south; it could potentially move the fire to the north which has its own issues.”
Trent Curtain, Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service, said yesterday was a day of extreme fire danger across many parts of New South Wales and that 150 firefighters worked to control the blaze overnight.
“A fire occurred at around 12.40pm in the back of properties in Nimbin Road in Koolewong. That fire progressed extremely quickly under very windy conditions and impacted properties very, very quickly.
“We had over 250 firefighters, more than 50 fire trucks and nine aircraft attacking that fire and protecting communities as much as possible.
“Fire investigators from the RFS Fire and Rescue NSW and NSW Police are on the ground this morning to determine the cause of that fire,” he said.
Mr Curtain said the RFS used a Chinook helicopter which was able to operate in night conditions.
“This is a new operational capability for RFS, and it’s fantastic that it was able to be redeployed here, down to the Central Coast.”
Liesl Tesch, Member for Gosford said it’s been an absolutely devastating time on the Central Coast.
“I’ve had conversations this morning with families that have been absolutely devastated. It’s incomprehensible to know that you have lost everything.
Do you know more? Message 0481 056 618 or email tips@dailytelegraph.com.au
Originally published as Koolewong fire: At least 18 homes destroyed as NSW braces for more fire danger
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