Firefighters battle Kuraya Outstation bushfire moving past Tennant Creek

Tennant Creek residents are being warned to be prepared as firefighters continue to battle a fast-moving bushfire under extreme conditions. See the terrifying pictures.

Apocalyptic scenes have surrounded Tennant Creek as firefighters diverted a bushfire from homes, but were unable to stop the blaze torching Peko mine.

Emergency services received reports of a fire southeast of Tennant Creek about 3pm Wednesday, which started at a facility at the Kuraya Outstation.

The fire picked up in speed and intensity, advancing towards Tennant about 6pm, with backburning undertaken around the township successfully steering the blaze north of the town through the evening.

Flames were clearly visible from Tennant Creek. Picture: Supplied

NT Fire and Rescue said several pieces of machinery, believed to be disused, were burned at Peko mine.

“We’re still obviously assessing the impacts as we move through today,” acting Chief Fire Officer Joshua Fisher said.

A Watch and Act warning issued on Wednesday was downgraded to an Advice notice, however Mr Fisher said there were still areas of concern as firefighters worked in extreme weather conditions.

“We’ve still got two active areas of concern – one is on Phillip Creek Station to the northwest of Tennant Creek … we don’t believe that there’s currently people on those outstations at this time. The other area is to the southeast of Tennant Creek,” he said.

“This was quite a fast moving fire and there was some pretty intense scenes last night for the members of Tennant Creek.”

NTFRS said the fire was moving quickly due to high fuel load, winds up to 50km/h and hot conditions. Picture: Bushfires NT

“We do have increased fire behaviour (Thursday morning) … the fire’s travelled really fast in that high fuel load, under these weather conditions, and particularly the wind strength.”

Additional resources were dispatched from Alice Springs and Darwin to help battle the blaze, including land and aircraft, with more on the way.

Mr Fisher offered a stark warning to residents to be prepared.

“We’ve got really dangerous fire conditions … in these conditions, it’s really important to know that we may not have a fire truck and firefighters available for every single asset, every single property, particularly in a fast moving fire event.

A second bushfire burns near the Barkly Homestead. Picture: Supplied

“Landowners and residents need to ensure that they have a bushfire survival plan and they know what they’re going to do ahead of that fire.

In a Facebook post Bushfires NT described the fire as “suspiciously lit”, while Mr Fisher confirmed only that it was under investigation.

“At this point in time we have not ruled out that the fire has been deliberately lit, if anyone does have any information about that fire we ask them to call Crime Stoppers or call police,” he said.

The Karaya Outstation is one of many burning in the region, with the Barkly Homestead Roadhouse also sharing terrifying images of a blaze 200km east of Tennant.