Bushfires disaster: Heatwave sparks fears of more bushfire horror in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania

As heatwave conditions bear down on NSW, Victoria and South Australia, firefighters brace for a return to bushfire horror.

The heat forecast for Australia for Saturday, December 28. Supplied by Bureau of Meteorology

Firefighters are “giving their all” to contain large and complex bushfires as much as possible before conditions worsen under forecast high temperatures and dry winds.

Forecast heatwave conditions, searing temperatures, dry winds and potential lightning strikes have raised the bushfire danger in South Australia and parts of NSW to “very high”.

The furnace-like conditions will stretch into early next week, with warnings after a brief reprieve, bushfire horror is set to return.

Extreme heatwave conditions will extend to southern parts of NSW, including the fire-ravaged South Coast, and to Victoria’s northeast from Saturday onwards.

Duty Forecaster at Bureau of Meteorology Jonathan How told The Australian another round of heat was building over South Australia, with the extreme heat to hit Victoria and NSW by Saturday.

A Smokey sun rises over Bondi and Bronte ahead of a forecast Sydney heatwave. Picture: John Grainger

Mr How said the heatwave will be followed by a cool change coming in from the south which will whip up wild winds like those last week that saw fires in NSW and Victoria jump firebreaks and spread wildly.

He said Saturday presents a day of extreme fire risk for South Australia, where fires are currently burning in the Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island.

Monday will be the peak of the heat for Melbourne and South Australia, with 40+ weather forecast.

NSW bolstering containment lines

After a devastating end to last week — when two firefighters were killed and as many as 100 houses were destroyed in the state — firefighters have used milder conditions to strengthen containment lines.

“The fire danger will worsen into the new week, with Monday and Tuesday most likely to be the most significant fire weather days,” Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Rose Barr said.

Almost 1300 were in the field on Friday morning as 70 bush and grass blazes continued to burn, with 33 of them uncontained.

“The weather has been for once a little bit more in our favour but it’s still going to be a potentially difficult day come next week once we start to see that bad fire danger set in,” Inspector Ben Shepherd from the RFS said.

NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said firefighters had been doing “really difficult … challenging work” in areas like the Blue Mountains and South Coast.

They had been establishing containment and control lines with hand tools and machinery, and doing extensive backburning, Mr Fitzsimmons told Seven’s Sunrise on Friday.

“They’ve also got aircraft that are coming in from above, and they’re lighting up using little incendiary devices to light up the landscape to help control the spread and the intensity of the fire,” he said.

Heatwave conditions are set to develop in coming days in NSW, peaking on New Year's Eve. Beat the Heat by following this advice: https://t.co/GpMf5XQb0Q and keep up to date on temperatures via the latest forecast: https://t.co/jkAjsOYSrR pic.twitter.com/IvVzi3z513

— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) December 27, 2019

“Because these fires are large, they’re complex and they’re very prone to the elements, once these weather conditions turn around, we know we’re going to see increased fire activity.

Temperatures on Tuesday are forecast to reach a maximum 43 degrees Celsius in Penrith, 35 degrees in Katoomba, 40 degrees in Picton, 36 degrees in Griffith and 40 degrees in Mudgee.

Very high fire danger is forecast for nine NSW regions on Friday, including the ACT, Greater Hunter and central and southern ranges.

Highs of 36 degrees are expected in Canberra, while regional centres such as Mudgee, Goulburn, Tamworth, Dubbo and Griffith are set for days above 35.

Code red in South Australia

In South Australia a statewide code red has been declared to provide extra help for homeless people as temperatures soar.

Adelaide was forecast to reach 40C on Friday with the mercury tipped to stay at least in the high 30s until Monday.

Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink said increasing services to the homeless was vital in the extreme heat.

“During a code red, agencies across Adelaide will extend their daytime operating hours to ensure people sleeping rough are keeping cool and well-hydrated during the extreme heat.”

South Australia is the first state to cop it from the recent weather mayhem. On Friday the South Australian Country Fire Service had issued seven total fire bans for districts in the state and expected to issue total fire bans again for several districts on Saturday.

SA CFS State Duty Commander Sam Quigley said a number of fires are currently burning across the state and there are concerns high winds and hot weather over the next few days could cause them to escape containment lines.

Of special concern are the deadly Cudlee Creek blaze in the Mount Lofty Ranges — very close to Adelaide — which has burnt brought a 25,000 hectares and the Duncan fire on Kangaroo Island in the state’s south which has burnt 19,000 hectares.

On Thursday, fire crews to heel the Cudlee Creek fire, when the CFS downgraded it to the lowest warning level.

The out-of-control bushfire had been raging across the ­Adelaide Hills for more than a week, claiming one life and destroying 84 homes.

“We’re using tools to ascertain hotspots for Monday to find where those areas of concern are and where priority needs to be given,” Mr Quigley said.

He said there were also fires in areas around Secret Rock on the Eyre Peninsula, and Coonalpyn and Bunbury in south-east SA.

Tourists beware

Duty Commander Quigley said any travellers intending on driving to Melbourne or Adelaide near the Cudlee Creek fire over the holiday period needed to be very aware of the dangers of smoke on the road and the potential for the fire to spread rapidly if it breached containment lines.

“This will test our control lines,” he said. “Any breaches of control lines would create significant concerns for the community.”

Transporting firefighters and trucks to tackle the Kangaroo Island fires has proven particularly difficult for the SA CFS, with 15 trucks being ferried over from Cape Jervis near the western tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

The looming heatwave is the second so far in December for South Australia, after last week’s run of four days with temperatures in the mid-to-high 40s.

On Friday the hottest spots are expected to be in the state’s north with 45C maximums forecast for Oodnadatta, Oak Valley and Tarcoola.

Victoria fire danger ‘severe’

In Victoria, the fire danger is poised to hit “severe” across eight of the state’s nine districts on Monday as the stifling hot air mass from inland Australia delivers blistering temperatures.

Five fires are currently burning across Victoria and the Country Fire Authority is flashing the warning signs about anyone looking to holiday in or drive through East Gippsland this weekend and into next week.

Three large bushfires are burning in the East Gippsland region, and the Country Fire Authority said up to 80,000 residents might be “at risk” when the mercury tops 41C on Monday.

Fires in the mountains in the Great Dividing Range are not under control and are burning for approximately 100 kilometres east all the way from Bairnsdale to Marlo, according to the CFA.

Highway closure possible

CFA State Control Centre Spokesperson, Luke Heagerty, told The Australia real concerns were for Monday with worries that fires may cause the closure of the Princes Highway east through Gippsland and into NSW.

“You’re looking at 100,000 hectares of fire, which is significant for even that part of the state,” he said.

“We are asking people if they have got travel plans to East Gippsland or Gippsland to reconsider that.”

Mr Heagerty said holiday goers who decide to go to East Gippsland should stay close to towns, not undertake activities in the bush or national parks.

“It’s not a weekend to be four wheel driving or camping in those areas,” he said.

“Don’t travel to that area if you aren’t prepared for driving into smoky conditions, in a situation where fire spreads and there’s going to be road closures.”

But he said there were plenty of other parts of Gippsland that were open for business and unaffected by fires.

Mr Heagerty said tourists heading down the Great Ocean Road to the beach towns and festivals these holidays should also consider their safety given fires which wiped out 116 homes in Wye River on Christmas Day 2015.

“We do know that there’s potential for fires starting there over the next few days,” he said.

“That’s something that we’ve always been conscious of and put the resourcing in there for those types of events.”

New fires are also likely to start as a result of dry lightning, particularly in the east of the state.

Cricket fans will swelter on Saturday on day three of the MCG Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne, when temperatures soar to 35C, before peaking at 41C on day five.

Melbourne is forecast to reach 41C on Monday. In Tasmania, Hobart is predicted to hit 40C on Monday.

Tasmania may turn to sea water to fight fears

Tasmania is set for a three-day blast of hot weather, with the mercury tipped to near 40C in parts of the state on Monday.

Six fires are currently burning in Tasmania and a total fire ban is in effect for the weekend and into Monday across the entire east of the state.

Four fires are burning to the north and east of Strathgordon in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage area and hikers in Tasmania’s national parks are being warned by the Tasmanian Fire Service to take caution over the holiday period.

Campfire bans are in place in several sites.

Southern Incident Controller, Mark Klop, warned the TFS may resort to using sea water to fight fires due to years of dry weather.

“Water supplies are down and it’s difficult for firefighters to gain access to water, especially on the east coast,” TFS’s Mark Klop said.

“We have processes in place to access salt water, which we’d rather not do, but are doing because of limited supply of fresh water.”

Queensland bans in place despite rain

Queensland emergency authorities remain on alert despite recent rains and storms across parts of the state.

On Friday afternoon, 39 fires were burning across the state, scattered across the north coast, south east and central regions.

The fire burning in Cooloola, south of Rainbow Beach and north of popular holiday spot Noosa on the Sunshine Coast is the highest risk fire.

A QFES spokeswoman told The Australian the forecast over the weekend was moderate to very high across the state and some fire bans will remain in place.

There were also storm warnings after significant rains on Christmas Day.

“We don’t want people to become complacent because there has been rain,” the spokeswoman said.

“It hasn’t been enough to drench the ground and wet the fire fuel.”

Since fires started in September 240,000 hectares have been burnt and 28 houses totally destroyed according to Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

Sweaty New Year’s Eve forecast

Mr How said Tuesday — New Year’s Eve — is forecast to be the hottest day for NSW and the ACT with temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s.

He said as the cool change comes through across the South East of Australia it may cause a number of dry lightning strikes.

“Dry thunderstorms could spark new fires, but we are not expecting any or little rainfall from these storms.”

But he said there was good news for the northern tropics and the NT as wet air was finally starting to push in from the North and rains would likely continue.

“The monsoon hasn’t arrived yet – (the recent rain) might be a monsoon burst but not the full monsoon,” he said.

“We’re seeing the monsoon retreat from India and moving over Indonesia, It’s a couple of weeks to a month away.”

But south-east Australia isn’t out of the woods yet, with the hot weather systems that have caused the recent heatwaves and subsequent high winds from the cool changes likely to continue.

“It’s the same air mass circulating around the continent, It continually cycles around the country.”

Those aboard boats on Sydney Harbour on New Year’s Eve are also being warned the cool change is likely to bring with it high winds, although high swells and waves are not expected.

with AAP