Coolagolite fire: Homes lost in south coast blaze

Residents of Bermagui expressed fears of the Black Summer bushfires returning as their power was cut off and at least two local houses were burnt down.

At least two homes have been lost in an out-of-control bushfire burning on the NSW south coast, with locals poised to flee as they remembered the impact of the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires, in which 25 people died in NSW.

The current Coolagolite fire — burning near Cobargo and Bermagui — started on Tuesday in hot windy conditions and rapidly grew into an emergency-level, out-of-control blaze which had burnt more than 5000ha by Wednesday morning.

Business owners in Bermagui on Wednesday expressed their concerns of a major fire sweeping through the district, with Bermagui Gelati owner Francesca Mimichel noting the memories it’s brought back from Black Summer.

“When the power went out (on Tuesday), it was like, oh okay, yeah this is real again,” she said.

“We have been packed for weeks ready to run if we have to.”

Bermagui Gelati owner Francesca Mimichel said she was ready to leave if she needed. Picture: Tom McGann.

The fires also scared Bermagui’s younger population, with mates Arlo Austin, Billy Hemsted and Mack Sunderland each sharing their frightening experiences on Wednesday.

“Yeah it was really scary, like the sky was all red and it was looking really not good,” Billy said.

Bermagui youngsters Mack Sunderland, Arlo Austin, Billy Hemsted. Picture: Tom McGann

“My family were packed up and ready to go to Narooma if we had to,” Mack added.

“We stayed up really late to make sure everything was clean and good to go to avoid fires,” Arlo said.

The NSW Rural Fire Service on Wednesday morning confirmed multiple homes were been lost in the area on Tuesday afternoon and night.

“We have confirmed reports multiple properties have been lost, however, we do not yet know numbers and exact areas,” an RFS spokesman told this publication.

“Investigations are commencing to determine the exact details of properties lost.”

While Wednesday morning’s conditions improved slightly as the day went on and the local fire was downgraded to Watch and Act levels, the blaze remained out of control and the RFS confirmed homes were still threatened by it.

Multiple roads remain closed as a result of the fires.

However, the RFS said Wednesday’s conditions would be important for fire crews on the ground fighting the blaze, with rain and cooler conditions expected.

The fire saw thousands of homes in the area lose power on Tuesday, however Essential Energy has confirmed power has been returned to all areas on Wednesday.

The south coast bushfire comes soon after Premier Chris Minns warned that the early onslaught of fires across NSW pointed to a “hellish three months” of summer.

Mr Minns said there were 73 fires burning across NSW on Wednesday morning, including 16 uncontained blazes.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has issued a dire warning of the “hellish” fire conditions ahead.

The Coolagolite bushfire. Picture: RFS Twitter

This included then out-of-control bushfire near Bermagui on the south coast.

“Now you’d be aware that the suburb and community of Bermagui and the NSW south coast are also the same communities that went through the terrible Black Summer bushfires several years ago,” he said.

“So you talk about the same crews, the same firefighters working through the night to keep communities to keep property safe. They’ve had a hellish 24 hours.”

Mr Minns said it was a concern that out-of-control bushfires had already struck in spring.

“It’s extremely difficult and of course this is concerning for everybody. We’re in October, and we’re facing mid-summer bushfire conditions in some parts of NSW, it points to a hellish three months,” he said, adding a warning that other areas of heavy bush around Sydney were a concern as well.

The road closed leading to Barraga Bay on Wednesday. Picture: Tom McGann

“The communities in western Sydney, the northern part of the metropolitan Sydney area and the Royal National Park are getting prepared for what could be a terrible bushfire season, as well as regional communities,” he said.

He said as of Wednesday morning there was still no indication of how many properties had been damaged by fire on the south coast.

“It’s really important that Fire and Rescue and the RFS are able to go into those communities and provide an accurate count.”

Reliving Black Summer:

Bega Valley Shire mayor Russell Fitzpatrick – who was mayor at the time the 2019/2020 Black Summer Fires devastated the south coast – said he felt like he was reliving the terrible days.

“I’m in Bega today and I look out the window and you just see so much smoke,” he said.

“It’s just awful; it’s like we’re back in Black Summer after only three years.”

Mr Fitzpatrick said he was concerned for the mental health of those in his LGA.

“This is why we need great mental health support because we’ve got a lot of people in our area who are still struggling mentally after Black Summer who are now having to go through a terrible bushfire again,” he said.

Bega Valley Shire Council Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick said it felt like he was reliving Black Summer. Picture: Tom McGann.

It’s a concern shared by former Bega MP Andrew Constance, who said it was clear the federal government had not done enough to keep the south coast safe during bushfire seasons.

“We’ve had properties burn down on the south coast now with a bushfire, like why weren’t these promises made by the government kept so we could have avoided this,” he said.

Mr Constance pointed to fire trails being mismanaged and overgrown, as well as land management in the bush areas being poor.

“This is the result of that and it’s not good enough,” he said.

Originally published as Coolagolite fire: Homes lost in south coast blaze