Bushfires: Emergency alarms raised ahead of heatwave return

Four states have issued emergency warnings ahead of a predicted return of high temperatures.

A general view of the bushfires sweeping through Stokes Bay on Kangaroo Island, southwest of Adelaide, on Thursday. Picture: AAP

Four states have issued emergency warnings ahead of a predicted return of high temperatures on Friday, which could fan existing bushfires and create new threats to communities.

As thousands of firefighters were deployed in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia to try to limit any further destruction in a fire season in which 25 people have died and six million hectares have been burned, the weather bureau predicted strong winds would exacerbate conditions.

NSW Rural Fire Service inspector Ben Shepherd said 2700 troops were in the field — supported by more than 750 trucks and 100 active aircraft — with the number of firefighters to surge to more than 3000 at the weekend.

The NSW RFS warned that emergency levels were predicted for the southern slopes, from Cowra to Dubbo in the state’s central southwest, and the south coast and Kosciuszko National Park also remained key battlegrounds.

Fire Spread Prediction for Fri 10 Jan 2020 - Southern Coast. Severe to Extreme fire danger is forecast for parts of NSW tomorrow, including southern areas of the state. These conditions will make fire behaviour erratic and dangerous. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/mJ0VHHOB9y

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 9, 2020

Strike teams were being positioned along the coast from Nowra to Bega, where temperatures were expected to reach 35C, while bulldozers carved containment lines along the fringe of active fire grounds to prevent further breakouts.

Mr Shepherd said despite the intensity of the crisis, the RFS volunteers remained resolute and determined to safeguard their communities.

“They are all tired but morale is still high, especially given the number of weeks that many have been working,” he told The Australian.

Fire Spread Prediction for Fri 10 Jan 2020 - Southern Inland. Severe to Extreme fire danger is forecast for parts of NSW tomorrow, including southern areas of the state. These conditions will make fire behaviour erratic and dangerous. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/9FvSzacSti

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 9, 2020

“They’ve been particularly working hard in areas of the south coast to get things under control and identify containment lines and undertake backburning where possible.

“There has been some good work done ahead of deteriorating conditions. We have been backburning across all fire grounds in the state, with a concentration on fires in close proximity to property.

“Some coastal rainfall did see some burns postponed as vegetation was too wet to light on fire.

“Unfortunately, there was also not enough rain to actually ­extinguish the fires.”

There were also major concerns that fires burning in the NSW south would merge with another mega-blaze in Victoria late on Friday after a vigorous southerly wind swept through the region after 8pm.

In Victoria, more than 1500 firefighters were continuing the battle, supported by more than 60 aircraft and 39 US firefighters ­deployed to East Gippsland.

Communities in the state’s northeast were on high alert as rising temperatures and hot, gusty winds were poised to ­exacerbate several out-of-control blazes. Evacuation orders were ­issued on Thursday night for several towns in the King Valley, ­including Rose River and Cheshunt South, after the nearby Abbeyard fire escaped its western flank, as well as for Buffalo River, Dandongadale, Merriang South, Mount Buffalo and Nug Nug.

The same fire sparked an emergency warning for Carboor, Claremont, Dandongadale, Edi, Edi Upper, the King Valley township, Whitfield, Whitlands and ­Whorouly South, where residents were urged to leave.

The extreme conditions prompted the Victorian government to extend its “state of dis­aster” for a further two days, until at least Saturday evening.

Victorian Premier Daniel ­Andrews said there was “every reason to believe there will be significant fire activity” in the coming days.

“This is a really significant challenge for us. We don’t underestimate it. We don’t like extending the state of disaster,” he said. “We’ve done it because we believe that it will save lives, and that after all is the most important thing.”

Mr Andrews implored residents to comply with any requests to evacuate fire zones, saying there had already been too many deaths. “If you receive instructions to leave, then you must leave. That is the only way to guarantee your safety,” he said.

“I know that’s a very binary message. It’s blunt. It’s not meant to impress anyone. It’s meant to be the cold facts. And that is it is dangerous to be in some of these communities.”

“We cannot guarantee your safety. You might be putting other people into harm’s way. If you receive that message, follow the instructions you are given.

“We don’t want to see any more people die. We don’t want to be going to any more funerals.

“People have a right to stay and defend their property, but the only way to do that is to have a proper plan. Part of any proper plan is that if conditions get so extreme, then you abandon any hope of trying to defend your property and you leave.”

Fire authorities also have significant concerns for the town of Myrtleford, which has a population of about 3200, because of fires to the south and southeast.

Seven tankers and two strike teams on Monday were reinforcing containment lines around the Abbeyard fire’s northwestern flank in a bid to protect the town.

The 14 fires that started on ­December 31 have joined and grown to have a perimeter spanning 180km, according to Jarrod Hayse, deputy incident controller for the Ovens complex fires.

He said the fires were spreading and would continue to do so on Friday.

“We’re preparing for this — all of our aircraft and all of our firefighters are currently doing their best to limit the spread of these fires right now,” he said.

“We know that tomorrow is going to be a severe fire weather day and the safest thing to do is to leave, and leave early.”

Victoria’s fire-affected northeast is expecting temperatures into the 40s on Friday as well as a strong wind change in the afternoon or early evening.

A total fire ban has been ­declared for several districts, including the northeast and East Gippsland.

The South Australian Country Fire Service expressed concern about the potential threat to lives, issuing two emergency warnings for Kangaroo Island, with ­Vivonne Bay on the south coast and areas east and west of the town of Parndana under direct threat, after fire broke control lines.

“This fire may pose a threat to lives directly in its path,” the CFS has told residents. “Act now. Leave, if the path is clear to a safer place, as it will soon be too dangerous to drive.’’

In the Adelaide Hills, a suspicious fire between the towns of Kersbrook and Williamstown ­revived fears of a repeat of the ­inferno that killed Charleston man Ron Seith on December 20, but that blaze was contained by late Thursday. Almost 40,000 Adelaide Hills residents felt the effects of that blaze.

Massive fires have ravaged the west of Kangaroo Island for more than a week, burning through ­almost 60 homes and 156,000ha — nearly a quarter of the island’s land mass — and killing father and son Dick and Clayton Lang last Friday.

Further west, an emergency warning remained in place in ­Baldivis, south of Perth.

Several hundred holidaymakers were also stranded on the Nullarbor since multiple bushfires closed the 1660km Eyre Highway on December 30.

More than 350 truck drivers and holidaymakers who had been stranded at roadhouses by the fires were evacuated on Monday.

A flare-up in the fires along the highway, which is the only sealed inland route to Perth, delayed a planned reopening of the road on Thursday.

It is believed as many as 250 people may be waiting on the other side of the South Australian border in cars, motels and caravan parks, while others are driving the extra nine-hour detour along Western Australia’s southern coast through Ravensthorpe to reach Perth.