Global Weather Phenomenon-Natural/Technological Disasters-Space Events-Epidemic/Biological Hazards-
Nuclear Events :
News Affiliate of Family Survival Protocol.com
LiveResidents
are warned to take shelter from two new bushfires in the Hunter, and
Blue Mountains fires flare up as gusty winds strengthen, temperatures
increase and humidity drops
New South Wales Rural Fire Service crews
protect a property on Bulgamatta Road in the township of Berambing in
the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/EPA
Here are the main points from the latest briefing from RFS NSW
Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons. You can watch the briefing in full
below.
There are 79 fires burning across the state, 29 uncontained. Three emergency warning alerts are in place, and four "watch and act".
Springwood activity is increasing and the new fire near Dudley is
burning towards properties. Fitzsimmons said: “there are plenty of
firefighters and fire engines in and around those areas.”
He asked parents not to try and pick up children still at the Redhead school until advised. The kids are safe.
There is a new breakout of fire near Raymond Terrace near Elizabeth
Drive. It is burning near the Pacific Highway. It's not posing any
immediate threat to property.
The Minmi fire is burning still to the west of the M1 motorway. The
road is closed. “There’s still a lot of work to do” before it’s brought
under control.
There are no reported significant breakouts in the other fires,
although there are fires at the back of people’s homes in some areas.
“We still have a few hours yet of the strong winds and warmer
conditions. The winds are expected to continue right through to
nightfall and beyond. We are expecting ... that there will be a swing
around overnight to a more southerly influence. It will be a dry change
though...and we’ll see a dry, cooler day tomorrow with fairly strong
southwesterly winds, 40kmph gusting 60-80kmph. Whatever unfolds throughout the afternoon today, there will still be a lot of fire edge that firefighters have to deal with throughout tomorrow, the coming days and coming weeks.”
A report from my colleague Oliver Milman:
What to do when you’re staring down a fierce fire front? Head to the pub, of course.
Jared White, manager of the Royal Springwood Hotel, told Guardian
Australia the establishment is acting as a hub for those who have lost
property in Springwood, as well as those who are concerned fire is
heading their way.
“The town is pretty quiet, people are ready to leave,” he said. “A
lot of them are heading here for support and reassurance. There have
been heaps of people coming in, every second one of them with a story of
losing something or friends who have done so.
“People aren’t too down. It’s a good community; people support each
other. People who have moved out of the area have come back to offer to
store things for their friends.”
White said water-carrying helicopters were circling the town,
although the current wind direction is pushing flames away from
Springwood.
“I’m not too worried, but it will only take a change of wind for it to be heading our way,” he added
Phil Holding, an RFS group captain for the Southwest Slopes zone,
spoke to my colleague Oliver Milman this afternoon. Holding said that fires could continue to burn in parts of the Blue Mountains until the winter.
"I suspect they will keep burning for months," he told Guardian
Australia. "They will thicken up the containment lines but further in
rough country, given the terrain, I wouldn't be surprised if fires keep
blowing up until winter. Unless we have a very wet summer, people will
get very tired of it."
The air crane has been sent to the Springwood fire,
where flare ups have pushed the fire up to an emergency warning level.
Burning embers are being blown towards homes by strong gusty winds.
Roland Clarke lives in Mt Victoria on one of the area's streets hit
hardest by the bushfire last week. Clarke told Guardian Australia how he
and his neighbours stayed to prepare their homes and fight the fire
off, but it came up so quickly that they had to run. His house was one
of just a few that did not burn down. Roland Clarke, pictured inside his living room as bushfires rage outside in Mt Victoria last week. Photograph: /Roland Clarke
A firefighter gives instructions near a bushfire at the Windsor Downs Nature Reserve, near Sydney Photograph: Daniel Munoz/Reuters
Three of the four major bushfires in Sydney's west have been brought under control with weather conditions easing on Wednesday, as an investigation was launched into what caused the blazes.
Winds reached 50km/h on Tuesday while temperatures were over 30 degrees in parts of Sydney as bushfires which destroyed one house and injured firefighters burnt out of control in western Sydney and in the Blue Mountains.
The fires reached emergency status but were downgraded to "watch and act" on Tuesday morning and to "advice" on Wednesday morning as winds eased and temperatures dropped by about ten degrees.
The firefighters' union used the emergency to attack budget cuts by the NSW state government saying five fire stations were closed because of budget cuts as the bushfires burnt.
Bushfires in Winmalee, Castlereagh and Marsden Park are burning within containments line but on Wednesday morning a bushfire in Richmond was still burning outside of control lines, according to a spokeswoman for the Rural Fire Service.
