Bushfires: Canberra survives predictions of ‘worst day’ blazes

A massive fire south of Canberra continues to burn but fears over the ‘worst day’ of the threat to the nation’s capital have eased.

The Clear Range Fire burns before overrunning property at Bredbo North, south of Canberra. Picture: Getty Images

A huge fire in southern NSW claimed several properties over the weekend, with authorities warning that the blaze could continue to threaten homes for weeks to come.

Bega Valley Shire Council Mayor Kristy McBain said an unconfirmed number of homes were lost in Wyndham and Tantawangalo in the blazes.

“This pushes our total losses in Bega Valley to well over 400 homes,” she said.

“It’s hard for people because this has been going on for 34 days and counting. We had homes lost on day one and on day 34 we are still losing homes.”

NSW Rural Fire Service spokesman Greg Allan said there had been reports of property loss from Saturday’s fires but building impact assessment teams hadn’t been able to access firegrounds.

Sheldon Evans and Chris Veness put out spot fires in the Bega Valley near Wyndham. Picture: Toby Zerna

No fires were burning at emergency level on Sunday afternoon though there were two blazes at “watch and act” alert level.

After a state of emergency was declared last week in the ACT, Canberra suffered its worst conditions since 2003 over the weekend, with the Orroral Valley blaze burning through more than 55,000ha.

But fears over the “worst day” of the threat to the ­nation’s capital eased by Sunday afternoon.

The fire was burning about 6km south of the Canberra suburb of Gordon, and 1.2km from the ACT town of Tharwa, on Sunday afternoon. A watch-and-act warning was in place on Sunday night, with forecasts of a possible storm.

ACT Emergency Services Agency Commissioner Georgeina Whelan said firefighters were still working hard on the blaze. “The next 24 hours are going to be very challenging for us indeed, probably the most challenging the ACT has seen this entire fire season,” Commissioner Whelan said.

“We may get thunderstorms … we could see some very challenging conditions and certainly some very intense firefighting in the next 24 hours.”

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr thanked firefighters for their work: “Thanks to the combined work of government emergency service agencies and the Australian Defence Force there has been no loss of life and no loss of property (in the ACT).

“There are still days and possibly weeks ahead of us.

“We will continue to keep the community informed and the ESA, so ably led by Commissioner Whelan, have done an amazing job of protecting our community and we should all be very proud of their work.”

Steve Bowen inspects what is left of his house at Colinton, NSW, after the Clear Range fire swept through on Saturday. Picture: Facebook: ABC Sydney

Temperatures and conditions early in the day also assisted firefighters, with a maximum temperature of 32.3C in Canberra — far cooler than the 42.7C recorded on Saturday. However, a blaze across the border in NSW claimed homes. Embers from the ACT fire created the Clear Range blaze that has burned through more than 5000ha on the NSW side of the border and destroyed homes in and around Bumbalong.

Among the homes lost was Steve Bowen’s house in nearby Colinton, which was razed after he evacuated to Canberra.

He returned to what was left of his home on Sunday.

“I've come over the horizon of my driveway to be confronted with this,” a distraught Mr Bowen told the ABC. “(It’s) very devastating. We’ve lived here in Colinton for almost 30 years.”

Federal parliament returns on Tuesday with the entire day to be dedicated to condolences after more than 30 people died during the horror fire season.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese will attend a traditional church service in Canberra during the morning.

Legislation to make bushfire relief payments and loss-of-income grants to volunteer firefighters is set to be rushed through both houses of parliament by the end of the week.

Cooler temperatures are forecast for much of the east coast on Monday.

additional reporting: AAP