An emergency warning has been issued for the 230,000-hectare Gospers Mountain blaze on Sydney’s northwestern outskirts as firefighters brace for a “long and challenging day”.
A 32,000-hectare fire at Green Wattle Creek near the Warragamba Dam has also been upgraded to an emergency level.
Strong westerly winds have been fanning the Gospers Mountain fire, with the possibility it could merge with the 6000-hectare Three Mile blaze near Wisemans Ferry.
Unprepared residents in the Colo Heights and Upper Colo areas should leave south towards Wilberforce, the NSW Rural Fire Service says.
Gary Flynn from the Wisemans Hotel says the small town is “dead quiet” as bushfires burn about a kilometre away across the Hawkesbury River.
#LIVE: We're above Gospers Mountain fire, which has just been upgraded to EMERGENCY WARNING level.
If you're in the area of Colo Heights or Upper Colo, and you are not prepared, LEAVE NOW towards Wilberforce.
LIVE BLOG: https://t.co/PqWGjmMNtC#9News https://t.co/QNhG3EsUVk
— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) December 5, 2019
“We are just copping all the smoke,” he told AAP.
“We are just keeping an eye on things at the moment. The town is dead quiet. It’s a different story for the poor buggers across the river.”
The fire service says there are dangerous fire conditions across the state.
“Today [Thursday] will be a long and challenging day,” the RFS said in a statement on Thursday.
“High temperatures and strong winds will make conditions dangerous at many of the 100-plus fires burning across NSW.”
#BREAKING: 2 fires are at EMERGENCY LEVEL right now at Gospers Mountain and Green Wattle Creek. 9 fires are at Watch and Act. Thousands of firefighters are on the ground battling the fires.#fires #nswfires #nswbushfires #nswrfs #sydneysmoke pic.twitter.com/a0qdVXw3ey
— Sydney Alert (@SydneyAlert) December 5, 2019
A team of 21 fire management specialists arrived in Sydney from Canada on Thursday to help the state deal with the ongoing bushfire crisis.
Eight fires were at a “watch and act” level by lunchtime including the 53,700-hectare Currowan blaze north of Batemans Bay on the South Coast.
The Currowan fire destroyed at least one home near the town of Kioloa earlier in the week.
The “longest period” of air pollution on record for NSW is also set to continue on Thursday. The Bureau of Meteorology says heavy smoke billowing from the bushfires surrounding Sydney will linger in the city basin until Saturday.
Sydney’s east and southwest were rated as “hazardous” for air pollution on Thursday, while northwest Sydney was between “very poor” and “hazardous”. The lower Hunter and Central Coast also had hazardous air quality.
“An overnight temperature inversion will trap the smoke in the Sydney basin. This means smoke will settle in many areas and be very heavy,” the RFS said in a statement.
The environment department says this season’s bushfire emergency has caused “some of the highest air pollution ever seen in NSW”.
“Recently NSW has experienced elevated levels of pollutants as a result of smoke from the bushfire emergency, and dust caused by the severe drought,” a spokesman said.
“NSW has experienced other periods of poor air quality that lasted several weeks, including the 1994 Sydney bushfires and the Black Christmas bushfires of December 2001 to January 2002.
“This event, however, is the longest and the most widespread in our records.”
Winds averaging up to 50km/h are expected on Thursday along with gusts of up to 80km/h across the ranges, with Friday expected to be worse again.
The RFS has issued widespread total fire bans for Thursday including the greater Sydney, Greater Hunter, Illawarra/Shoalhaven, far south coast, Monaro Alpine, southern ranges and central ranges fire regions. The northern slopes and north-western fire regions are also under a total fire ban.
-AAP
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