As greater Sydney braces for record breaking temperatures, authorities are urging families to “put your travel off” as the heatwave sets a catastrophic fire danger level in New South Wales.
At a press briefing on Saturday morning, police and emergency services said ember attack up 10km or more from a main fire front is possible under catastrophic fire conditions on Saturday.
Exhausted but determined firefighters from across NSW, interstate and overseas including Canada are currently working on 111 fires, with fears fire fronts could be pushed further with Saturday’s horrific conditions.
At 11am on Saturday, NSW Traffic issued an alert that the Great Western Highway – which links Sydney to Bathurst – was closed in both directions.
“That is the sort of scale that we are talking about. The profound effect that the drought is having on the landscape and on the flammability of the vegetation cannot be overstated.
“Under the conditions we are expecting today, that is the scale we are talking about and we’ll see what the day brings,” NSW RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.
One volunteer firefighter told the ABC many brigades had been fighting fires for up to six weeks.
“They are extremely tired. We manage their mental health by trying to give them a day off whenever we can, but we are an active brigade of 51
active members and so we try to share the load around as much as we can, but unfortunately when you’ve got crews out 24 hours a day, that’s rally hard to do.
“At the moment they are running on pure adrenaline. Most of our very experienced people are on the fire ground. Everyone is out there doing whatever they can do and hoping that we do have whatever is available to us to fight this today,” she said.
NSW RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers urged people to think about about not driving if you don’t need to, and if you’re in a heavily vegetated area and have to go down a single road, think about staying.
“Firefighters will do their best to look after your house but we just want to get through the day with lives in tact.”
“Think very carefully about staying in that area.
“And maybe, not necessarily evacuate, but go somewhere else in the heat, go to the beach, go to a shopping centre, go somewhere that’s not bushfire prone.
Already thousands of firefighters are working in shifts to battle over 100 fires in extreme conditions across the state.
Catastrophic fire danger Greater Syd, Illawarra/Shoalhaven & Sthn Ranges, & statewide total fire ban. People in areas of Catastrophic areas should avoid bush fire prone areas, identify locations e.g. large towns, cities, shopping centres. https://t.co/6tqOye7ksB #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/1vxFVKyLys
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) December 20, 2019
There is fear that the Princes Highway south of Nowra could be closed because of several fires in the region including the Currowan blaze.
A catastrophic fire danger has been declared for greater Sydney, the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions and southern ranges where several significant fires are burning, including some of which are out of control.
Authorities remain particularly concerned about the Gosper Mountain fire in the Wollemi National Park which was on Saturday morning upgraded to an ’emergency warning’ level.
It has already burned almost 450,000 hectares and joined up with two other fires last week, creating a so-called mega blaze.
“Areas around Kurrajong Heights, Bowen Mountain, Bilpin and where that fire gets to around Kurrajong Heights, when the southerly change starts pushing that fire north, we’re worried about the impact of areas there,” Mr Rogers said.
The RFS said they were also concerned about the Grose Valley fire in the Blue Mountains, warning that it could hit Blackheath.
Advice – Grose Valley (Blue Mountains LGA)
If you are in the area of Hat Hill Road or Pulpit Rock, you may experience increased fire activity, embers and smoke.
Embers can be blown ahead of the main fire front, starting spot fires that may threaten property in the area. #nswrfs pic.twitter.com/HsNom8Ivdu
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) December 20, 2019
The Green Wattle Creek fire in the Southern Highlands is expected to affect areas in Bargo, Balmoral, Hill Top, Pheasants Nest, Colo Vale and could run all the way down to Mittagong.
Over 200 additional trucks from the NSW Fire and Rescue Service and RFS have been allocated on Saturday and residents are being urged to be prepared to leave.
New South Wales ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan at the RFS headquarters said heat-related conditions were up 34 per cent on the same time last year, warning people with respiratory conditions that Saturday’s heatwave could be life-threatening.
“I do want to stress that this was done as a pre-planning exercise. It went very well yesterday. More than 500 people were relocated. The simple reality is that it takes 4-6 hours to relocate that many people.
“With the catastrophic conditions, it was assessed that we really needed to move quicker because the fires are likely to move very quickly today [Saturday].
-with AAP
The post ‘We just want to get through the day’: NSW faces catastrophic fire risk appeared first on The New Daily.
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