By Sarah McPhee
Retirement village residents on Sydney’s northern beaches sheltered inside as a nearby hazard reduction burn turned into a large, out-of-control bushfire which threatened homes before it was downgraded.
The NSW Rural Fire Service issued an emergency warning at 2.39pm on Saturday in relation to the blaze on Meatworks Avenue at Oxford Falls, which began as a planned burn.
The warning focused on the Cromer Heights area, with residents on certain streets told it was “too late to leave”.
However, at 4.23pm, the fire had been downgraded to “watch and act” level. By 5.30pm, it was lowered further to “advice” level, carrying “no immediate danger”.
At 8pm, the RFS said the fire had reached 100 hectares in size, but was “being controlled”.
“Conditions across the fire ground have begun to ease as wind speed and temperature decrease,” the RFS said on Saturday night.
“Firefighters, working to contain the fire, are conducting backburning operations overnight behind properties in the vicinity of Lady Penrhyn Drive, Willandra Drive, Maybrook Avenue and Pinduro Place. These operations will result in increased smoke in the Oxford Falls and Cromer Heights areas.”
The bushfire behind Australian Unity Willandra Bungalows Retirement Community.Credit: James Brickwood
Willandra Road was to remain closed between McIntosh Road and Little Willandra Road.
Footage and photographs of the blaze show an enormous cloud of smoke over the area, which could be seen from the CBD, and an orange glow in the sky.
At Levande Maybrook retirement village on Jersey Place in Cromer, which is home to more than 100 people across three buildings surrounded by bushland, residents were told to shelter in place.
“When the warning came … it was too late to leave,” Levande spokesman Dean Felton told the Herald.
He said the facility was well-prepared and enacted its bushfire management plan. Residents either stayed in their units with the doors and windows closed, or gathered at the community centre in the middle of the site, which was a designated refuge.
Felton said they were told onsite later on Saturday that the “worst of it had passed”.
Flames still flickered behind Australian Unity’s Willandra retirement village and bungalows as night fell.
Earlier on Saturday afternoon, RFS media spokesman Inspector Ben Shepherd said the fire was burning towards the Cromer Heights and Beacon Hill area, “making its way basically under north-westerly winds in a south-easterly direction to Willandra Road”.
Shepherd said hundreds of firefighters were sent to battle the blaze with assistance from water-bombing aircraft. He confirmed it was a hazard reduction burn that “spotted across lines”.
Locals flooded social media with images of the fire, including from their backyards. One woman urged those driving to look at the blaze to keep the roads clear for firefighters.
Another person said there had been a “constant stream of tourists coming up Lady Penrhyn Drive all afternoon to view the fire”, describing the decision as “crazy”.
A Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman said they were supporting the RFS with nine trucks in attendance and crews focused on property protection.
Earlier this week, the RFS encouraged residents across the state to dedicate this weekend to preparing for bushfire season.
Emergency services minister Jihad Dib acknowledged hot and dry conditions were anticipated in summer.
“After several years of rainfall and flooding the vegetation has grown quickly and that is now drying out with the warmer weather, adding to fire risk,” Dib said.
RFS Commissioner Rob Rogers on Wednesday said volunteers had responded to more than 1100 bush and grass fires since the start of July. A total fire ban was declared across Sydney on Thursday.
Firefighters were tested last month when a grass fire threatened homes near Liverpool in Sydney’s south-west.
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