NSW bushfires: Gospers Mountain upgraded to emergency warning

Fire-weary residents in Colo Heights, north of Sydney, are again being warned to seek shelter from a bushfire.

RFS volunteers and NSW Fire and Rescue officers protect a home on Wheelbarrow Ridge Road being impacted by the Gospers Mountain fire near Colo Heights. Picture: AAP

Fire-weary residents in Colo Heights, north of Sydney, are again being warned to seek shelter amid fears an out-of-control blaze may sweep through the small community for a second time in as many days.

The Rural Fire Service issued an emergency warning for the Gospers Mountain bushfire, burning in Wollemi National Park, shortly before 8.30pm on Tuesday.

“Firefighters are working to protect properties near Colo Heights as the Gospers Mountain Fire continues to spread through bushland in the Hawkesbury,” RFS spokesman Greg Allan told The Australian.

Firefighters are working to protect properties near Colo Heights as the Gospers Mountain Fire continues to spread through bushland in the Hawkesbury. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/fhDsgAZG22

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) November 19, 2019

“It’s a very active fire and with conditions as they are it’s not a surprise it had to be upgraded.”

It comes after residents were forced to flee on Friday as the burned on the town’s outskirts, threatening several homes and a sawmill.

Residents are now being told it is too late to leave and they needed to take shelter in a solid structure.

RFS volunteers and NSW Fire and Rescue officers at the scene of the Gospers Mountain fire. Picture: AAP

The Gospers Mountain fire was upgraded to ‘watch and act’ on Tuesday morning, with residents of the Hawkesbury and Central Coast ordered to remain on high alert as the blaze moved swiftly through densely-forested areas.

Heavy smoke from the fire, which is now at more than 143,000ha, blanketed Sydney and the Central Coast on Tuesday morning, prompting authorities to issue health alerts as air pollution soared to hazardous levels.

Hot, dry and windy weather is predicted to return on Wednesday and intensify to “severe” levels on Thursday.

Earlier, fire crews had been carrying out backburning operations close to properties in Colo Heights, as well as in the surrounding areas of Wisemans Ferry, Grey Gums and Yengo Drive.

The Rural Fire Service said two fires were burning at ‘Watch and Act’ level on Wednesday evening, with a total of 56 fires burning across the state of which 26 were not contained.

RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said 1500 firefighters would remain in fire zones across NSW on Wednesday, with crews from New Zealand supporting efforts to put in containment lines.

“We are expecting to see elevated fire dangers again on Thursday, we could even see some fairly widespread severe or high fire dangers down in southern parts of NSW,” Mr Fitzsimmons said.

“Hot air will move across Adelaide and South Australia on Wednesday and into NSW, so we are shaping up for yet more difficult conditions for firefighters.”

‘Watch and Act’ alerts remain in place for the Myall Creek Road fire in northern NSW and the 80000ha Rumba Complex blaze on the state’s mid coast, north west of Taree.

The RFS said 577 homes had been destroyed to date this fire season with more than 420 lost in the past fortnight.

There have been six deaths and some 1.6 million hectares of NSW bushland has been lost so far this bushfire season.