Bushfires: More than 1000 homes set to be destroyed

Destruction from Australia’s deadly blazes is set to top 1000 homes as 200 fires burn, amid warnings dangerous conditions could last six weeks.

A firefighter is faced with monster flames while trying to save a home in Blackheath, in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, on Sunday. Picture: NSWRFS

The destruction from Australia’s deadly bushfire crisis is set to top 1000 homes as almost 200 fires continue to burn across the country amid new warnings that the dangerous conditions will continue for another six weeks.

As a fire emergency in South Australia claimed the life of Adelaide Hills man Ron Selth, 69, and destroyed 72 homes, the NSW Southern Highlands town of Balmoral was left devastated by a wall of fire.

Thousands of people fled their homes in the Blue Mountains and surrounds as two fires converged to create havoc on Saturday.

Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian ­announced extended assistance for victims of the bushfires as the Prime Minister indicated a nat­ional plan would be developed to prevent a repeat of this year’s devastating bushfire season.

In South Australia, Fire and Rescue Deputy Chief Andrew Stark said Monday was likely to see a return of extreme fire conditions across the state, with a severe warning and total fire ban for the Mount Lofty Ranges.

“There’s still lots of pockets of bush burning, there’s lots of trees that are hot and smouldering and it’s a very dangerous place to be,” he said.

In NSW firefighters will use cooler conditions to carry out backburning in the next few days ahead of a return of heatwave conditions at the weekend.

The NSW Rural Fire Service remains concerned for heavily populated areas in the Blue Mountains region, where a mega-blaze has burnt through 485,000ha at Gospers Mountain.

At Dargan, on the west of the Blue Mountains, residents told of a “tornado’’ of flames as fire ­descended on the town.

Kevin McCusker, 65, deputy captain at the Clarence/Dargan Bushfire Brigade, lost his stock and infrastructure for his business, the Killibinbin Nursery. He estimated that about half of the brigade had lost their homes over the weekend.

“The firefront just came through as a tornado. We tried to save as many homes as we could, but it was just a wall of flames coming towards you.”

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said the fires had destroyed homes, livestock and vineyards: “It is a very significant damage bill that we will have as a state. This has been a devastating 48 hours for the people of South Australia.”

Adelaide Hills winemakers, includi­ng Tilbrook Estates, Vinteloper and Simon Tolley, were devastat­ed by the deadly Cudlee Creek blaze.

Victoria also faces an ongoing fire threat, with a large blaze in the Gippsland region burning out of control.

Ms Berejiklian declared Balmoral had been all but wiped out.

“We have got the devastating news that there’s not much left in the town of Balmoral,” she said.

The 10,000-strong town of Lithgow, west of the Blue Mountains, also came under heavy ember attack on Saturday, with residents armed with garden hoses dousing multiple spot fires that ignited in the centre of town. Several properties were lost.

The Prime Minister issued an apology upon his return from ­Hawaii on Saturday night after he was criticised for embarking on an overseas holiday during the bushfires, but he stood firm on his government’s climate change policies.

Mr Morrison on Sunday afternoon met the families of two volunteer firefighters who died on Thursday night in a blaze southwest of Sydney.

He consoled the widows and children of Geoff Keaton and Andrew O’Dwyer, who were killed when a tree fell on their truck while they were battling to contain the Green Wattle Creek fire tearing through Wollondilly shire.

Mr Morrison said climate change was “one of many factors” responsible for the fires and he defended the government’s 26 per cent emissions reduction target.

He said other contributors to the protracted bushfire catastrophe were the drought, the management of national parks, building code regulations and “issues of backburning and managing native vegetation”.

“I have always acknowledged the connection between these weather events and these broader fire events and the impacts globally of climate change. It’s one of many factors,” Mr Morrison said Sydney before visiting fire-affected areas.

“We must take action on climate change and we are taking action on climate change. At the last election I said we would, I said we would meet and beat our Kyoto targets, I said we would meet our Paris commitments in a canter and we will.”

He said voters could “expect my government to do what it promised to do” in taking measured action on climate change, and rejected calls for the government to dump its plan to use Kyoto carry-over credits to meet the Paris target.

“There is a long time between now and 2030 and we will continue to refine our policies because we’re serious about taking action. But what we will not do is act in a kneejerk or crisis or panicked mode. A panic approach and response to anything does not help.”

Mr Morrison was briefed by fire chiefs on the January outlook, which looks grim, with no significant rainfall forecast.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said a lack of rain meant the fire danger would continue. “We’re not expecting any rainfall to make any meaningful difference to these fires until January, January-February.

“That’s still a way to go. We’re still talking four to six weeks at best before we start to see a meaningful reprieve in the weather,’’ Mr Fitzsimmons said.

He warned the weekend’s catastrophic conditions had claimed at least another 100 buildings. In NSW 789 homes have been lost in this year’s bushfire season, 40 in Queensland, 72 in South Australia and one in Western Australia.

The Mayor of the Blue Mountains, Mark Greenhill, warned a tense and challenging Christmas period was ahead for local communities as Blackheath came under threat on Sunday.

Mr Greenhill visited Blackheath and Katoomba on Sunday to survey the damage.

“With fires as large as these and no rain forecast for a couple of months, the reality is that we have difficult times ahead,” he said.

Additional reporting: Greg Brown

At least 72 homes destroyed in SA Cudlee Creek fire