Bushfires: No warning of hungry ‘monster’ in NSW

The catastrophic inferno that ripped through NSW towns this week was like a ‘monster with its own appetite’, a local MP says.

Malua Bay, just south of Batemans Bay, on New Year’s Day. Picture: Alex Coppel

The catastrophic inferno that ripped through NSW south coast towns this week was like a “monster with its own appetite”, local state MP Shelley Hancock said.

“It came without warning, so quickly, there was really no way to combat it,” Ms Hancock told Sky News. “(Residents) were evacuating to the water, they had their cars in water, that is how bad it was.”

The fire destroyed at least 176 homes and left seven people dead.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said “buildings, homes and structure losses are going to number into the hundreds’’ in the south coast fires.

“Significant property losses occurred­ in Lake Conjola, Myrtle Creek and Nowra Hill, as well as in areas south of Batemans Bay, includin­g Lilli Pilli, Broulee and Mogo,” Mr Fitzsimmons said.

Bega Valley Mayor Kristy ­Mc­Bain said “dozens of homes’’ had been lost in Bemboka and Quaa­ma­. And large areas of the south coast between Nowra and Batemans Bay were set to be without power and some telecommunications for an extended period.

In Victoria, anxiety has been raised in the popular high country areas with new fires starting at Mount Hotham and Mount ­Buller.

Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said while the fires were only at watch-and-act level, significant effort was needed to ensure they didn’t join up with existing fires in the East Gippsland area.

“A lot of people holiday up in those areas,’’ he said.

“We’ll be prioritising­ those fires and hitting them as hard as we can. We don’t need any new fires in the landscape.’’ Mr Crisp said more than 500,000 hectares had already been burnt in Victoria, predominantly in East Gippsland, with another three months of hot weather to come.

Ten to 15 structures were lost in the fire near Corryong, in Vic­toria’s northeast, as well as 19 in Sarsfield and 24 in Buchan and ­Buchan South in East Gippsland.

Federal member for Gippsland Darren Chester said he believed from conversations with locals that “dozens” of homes had been destroyed in Mallacoota alone.

In Tasmania, a fire threatening communities and damaging prop­ert­y in the northeast was deliberately lit, Tasmania Police said. The bushfire near Fingal was one of several that started in the state on Monday, a day of extreme fire danger. It has burned 5800ha and placed residents in areas near Mangana, Mathinna, Fingal and Tower Hill at risk, while causing ongoing damage, evacuations and road closures.

“Police have reason to believe the main fire, as well as other fires in the area, have been deliberately lit,” said police northern commander Brett Smith.

In South Australia, two fires on Kangaroo Island have merged amid dry conditions and high winds. The fires started 5km apart in an inaccessible part of the Ravine­ Des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area on the island’s west, and have burnt through 7500ha. It could burn towards the Flinders Chase National Park if conditions remain unchanged.

In Western Australia, catas­tro­phic fire conditions are anticipated for the already fire-affected Goldfields region, which includes Kalgoorlie.

The Goldfields-Esperance and Eyre highways will remain closed to contain a fire that has burned through more than 150,000ha of land near Norseman.

Additional reporting: Matthew Denholm