NSW bushfires: Drone images show full brunt of devastation at Malua Bay and Mogo

New drone footage reveals the scars inflicted on the small communities of Malua Bay and Mogo by the relentless New Year’s Eve firestorm with many homes and buildings obliterated and lush areas of bushland turned desolate.

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The flames may be gone but a bird’s eye view provides a jarring glimpse of the devastation on the state’s south coast.

Homes flattened by flames, lush areas of bushland turned desolate and swathes of blackened landscape that reach the waves of the Pacific Ocean are all captured by new drone footage.

Obtained by The Daily Telegraph using a drone, images reveal the scars inflicted on the small communities of Malua Bay and Mogo by the relentless New Year’s Eve firestorm with many homes and buildings obliterated.

Bushland behind the small town of Mogo. Picture: Toby Zerna

Some of the burnt out bushland behind Malua Bay. Picture: Toby Zerna

The tennis club house and courts survived while the surrounding bush was scorched. Picture: Toby Zerna

Malua Bay RFS captain Ian Barnes said in hindsight the Clyde Mountain fire, which reached the local area on New Year’s Eve, was “quite a rare fire moment in any brigade captain’s life”.

“It came with such speed and ferocity, it had us in frantic activity for at least eight hours,” Cpt Barnes said. “The first alerts came at 6am, people were evacuating by 8am and the fire front hit by 10am. It was almost a miracle that Malua Bay residents were able to evacuate without death or injury.”

RFS damage assessment data has revealed 44 homes, 33 facilities and 74 outbuildings were destroyed by the fires in Mogo, while Malua Bay lost 90 homes, 92 outbuildings and seven facilities.

A property off George Bass Drive between Pretty Point and Mackenzies Beach was destroyed while homes along Illabunda Drive were left untouched. Picture: Toby Zerna

The small town of Mogo where many homes and buildings were destroyed. Picture: Toby Zerna

A property completely destroyed on Bateman St. Picture: Toby Zerna

Malua Bay RFS members lost two houses, three cars and had other vehicles and property damaged. The brigade’s own fire shed came dangerously close to destruction, but the clean-up effort since the firestorm has been non-stop.

“It started virtually the next day, we’ve had call outs every day except one in the three weeks since the fire hit,” Cpt Barnes said.

“We’ve been concentrating on getting the brigade activity back to some normality, but there’s been many fire calls in the aftermath for reignitions, spot fires and trees across roads.”

The small town of Mogo was hit hard by the New Year’s Eve fire storm. Picture: Toby Zerna

Homes destroyed in Mogo. Picture: Toby Zerna

While the vision of the devastation may look overwhelming, Cpt Barnes said that Mogo and Malua Bay locals were getting back on their feet. School holiday tourists are returning to the area, which was “one good thing”. “I think the initial shock is wearing off now, people starting to look more positively on rebuilding and recovering,” he said.

“One other psychological benefit is that we received 35 to 40 millimetres of rain, which was nice, even though it doesn’t eliminate further fire threat.”

Originally published as NSW bushfires: Drone images show full brunt of devastation at Malua Bay and Mogo