‘I’m hoping it was very quick’: Friends mourn married couple found dead after NSW bushfire

The remains of a married couple who reportedly met late in life have been found after a bushfire tore through their rural property in northern NSW.

An elderly couple has been confirmed dead in northern NSW after a bushfire which started more than a month ago due to a lightning strike.

Authorities had been looking for a 77-year-old man and 68-year-old woman missing from Coongbar, 70 kilometres southwest of Casino, after the Long Gully fire flared up on Tuesday.

They’ve since been named in media reports as married couple Bob Lindsey and Gwen Hyde.

“It’ll be fairly devastating for us all,” local man Ken Crowther told Ten News tonight.

Mr Lindsey and Ms Hyde reportedly met late in life.

Friend Carol Dillon told The Daily Telegraph the pair had married just three years ago.

“I’m hoping it was very quick,” Ms Dillon said of their deaths.

Superintendent Toby Lindsay told reporters this afternoon NSW Police had attended a property at Deadmans Creek in Coongbar on Wednesday “in relation to concerns for residents”.

“Unfortunately, a short time ago, two human remains have been identified,” he said.

“I can confirm a 77-year-old male and a 68-year-old female are believed to be the people that have died at this premises.”

Supt Lindsay said the coroner has been advised of the deaths as a result of the Long Gully bushfire, which was considered “not suspicious”.

“We have no further information in regards to the families. To a wider extent the families have certainly been apprised and close family liaison has occurred today,” he said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has shared her condolences.

So saddened to hear about the loss of life in the bushfires in Northern NSW. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected.

— Gladys Berejiklian (@GladysB) October 10, 2019

Coongbar, NSW. Picture: Google Maps

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons described it as a tragic end to the search.

“It’s a horrible outcome,” he said.

Mr Fitzsimmons said the Long Gully fire has been burning for many weeks near Drake but flared up again on Tuesday and spread across the Clarence River, impacting the rural areas of Ewingar and Coongbar.

Fire investigators have determined it began as the result of a lightning strike on September 5.

Mr Fitzsimmons said the couple’s bodies were found inside a “significantly damaged” home and confirmed no other people remained unaccounted for.

“You’re talking about a remote, relatively isolated place that’s been heavily impacted by fire,” he said.

A cow stands in a burnt-out field in Rappville, NSW, where several properties were lost. Picture: Dan Peled/AAP

Earlier, NSW RFS Inspector Ben Shepherd said authorities “started off with around about a dozen people that were unaccounted for”.

Richmond Valley mayor Robert Mustow told ABC the loss of a local timber mill would hurt 30 employees and have a “big impact on our community”.

The Brisbane-to-Sydney rail line has been cut and won’t be operational again for an estimated five days, the mayor added.

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance tweeted that stretches of the rail line had been damaged and the Rappville rail bridge destroyed.

📷 Some of the aftermath of the devastating bushfires currently burning in Northern NSW.

Stretches of the North Coast rail line have crippled by fire, with the Rappville Rail Bridge destroyed.

Thinking of all those affected by bushfires across the state. pic.twitter.com/RKj00RvMwP

— Andrew Constance MP (@AndrewConstance) October 8, 2019

Damage to the town of Rappville after fire tore through the region.

It’s believed the fire that ripped through the small village of Rappville on Tuesday afternoon may have been deliberately lit with NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott labelling the potential arson a “bastard act”.

Mr Fitzsimmons says in the absence of any other obvious cause the blaze is being treated as suspicious.

“We’ve got to call it out — it’s a heinous crime, a criminal act,” he told Nine.

Supt Lindsay this afternoon said all fires are treated with suspicion until proven otherwise.

Strikeforce Cleander has been formed to investigate the cause of the fire.

Firefighters battling the blaze on the Summerland Way at Clearfield, near Rappville, south of Casino.

A bushfire burning next to Busby's Flat Road in Busbys Flat, northern NSW, Wednesday. Picture: Jason O'Brien/AAP

The Busbys Flat and Drake fires, which joined together in recent days, have burned 115,000 hectares. At least 29 homes, two community facilities and 72 outbuildings have been destroyed, with more damage expected to found.

Mr Fitzsimmons said 34 bushfires continue to burn across NSW, eight of which remain out of control. However, all fires are currently at the lower “advice” alert level after a number of emergency warnings were downgraded on Wednesday.

Allan Robertson lost his Rappville home and was left with the clothes he was wearing, his phone and “my worst thongs”.

He said he was uninsured and his partner was in palliative care. “It was just like a massive fireball. There was nothing you could do. The heat was horrendous,” he told Ten on Wednesday.

A car destroyed by bushfire in Rappville, NSW. Picture: Dan Peled/AAP

The NSW RFS said a number of residents were treated for minor burns and breathing difficulties.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday said the Federal Government will provide “whatever assistance is necessary”.

The RFS says residents likely won’t be able to return home for a number of days given trees are down across roads and powerlines are on the ground. The fire service also warned that even though better conditions were forecast today, blazes could flare again.

— with AAP

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Federal Government would provide assistance. Picture: James Gourley/AAP