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NSW and Queensland fires:
'Catastrophic' danger for
Sydney and Hunter a danger
region widened
- Tomorrow's fire danger will be worse than originally forecast.
- Rural Fire Service NSW has extended the danger regions to include the Illawarra and Shoalhaven.
- Greater Sydney and Greater Hunter were declared as catastrophic danger this morning - the highest risk level and unprecedented for Greater Sydney.
- High temperatures, strong winds and low humidity are forecast, making conditions dangerous.
11 November, 2019
LIVE FEED
11
November, 2019Fire danger widened
Tomorrow's fire danger will be worse than originally forecast.
Rural Fire Service NSW has extended the danger regions to include the Illawarra and Shoalhaven.
Greater Sydney and Greater Hunter were declared as catastrophic danger this morning - the highest risk level and unprecedented for Greater Sydney.
High temperatures, strong winds and low humidity are forecast, making conditions dangerous.
Latest fire stats for Queensland
- 47 fires burning across Queensland, three of major concern
- Cobraball near Yeppoon in central Queensland; Cooroibah on the Sunshine Coast; Thornton in the Lockyer Valley
- Nine homes destroyed, eight in the Cobraball blaze, one in the Cooroibah fire
- State of fire emergency in force across 42 local government areas; total ban on outdoor fires, activities that can spark fires
- One firefighter hurt, breaking a leg fighting Cooroibah blaze
- High and very high fire danger forecast for most of Queensland on Tuesday
- Severe conditions expected in Darling Downs and Granite Belt region on Tuesday and again on Wednesday when the danger in the Wide Bay and Burnett and Southeast Coast regions will also hit severe
'Extremely volatile' - Key facts ahead of tomorrow
NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has detailed the latest information on the NSW fires, ahead of what is expected to be a catastrophic day tomorrow.
Around 400 extra firefighters are flying in from interstate.
Meanwhile, unprecedented conditions mean embers from main fires could blow up to 20km ahead of the firefront, sparking new blazes.
NORTHERN NSW
- The fires in the state's north which have killed three people will not be contained by tomorrow
- Fires will spread aggressively and quickly
- The risk is real to communities in and around these areas
- Anyone to the east and south east of these fires is at risk
HAWKESBURY
- A large fire is burning north of Hawkesbury region
- This fire has the potential to grow and move across the Hawkesbury or even the Central Coast
BLUE MOUNTAINS
- The Woodford fire from a few days ago has been contained and is being patrolled.
- It only needs one ember to flare up again
GREATER SYDNEY
- "We are facing unprecedented catastrophic conditions."
EMBER ATTACKS
- Under severe conditions you would expect spotting 4km ahead of the firefront, and under extreme circumstances 6km in front
- Fire crews have been experiencing 10km to 12km spotting activity and multiple ignitions ahead of the main firefront
- Under catastrophic conditions embers are expected 20km in front of the firefront.
- The lack of moisture makes conditions extremely volatile
EXTRA RESOURCES
- 400 extra personnel are flying and driving in from interstate, to add to 1400 people who have been helping over the past few weeks.
- 50 trucks are coming from Victoria, and they will be stationed in Goulburn and Hunter
Latest travel updates for NSW
Several major roads in NSW remain closed due to bushfires.
The Gwydir Highway is closed between Bald Nob, east of Glen Innes, and Eatonsville, west of Grafton.
Motorists can use the Bruxner Highway or Waterfall Way instead, however, these routes are not suitable for B-doubles.
The Oxley Highway is closed between Walcha and Bago.
The Bucketts Way also remains closed between Burrell Creek and Purfleet.
Other road closures still in place due to the bushfires include:
- Failford/Rainbow Flat - The Lakes Way is closed between the Pacific Highway and Failford Road
- Failford - Failford Road is open to local traffic only from Forster/Tuncurry to Nabiac
- Wallabi Point - Saltwater Road is closed between Old Bar Road and Wallabi Point
- Crowdy Head to Harrington - Crowdy Head Road is closed
- Telegraph Point - Red Hill Road is closed from Rollands Plains Road
- Deep Creek to west of Lower Creek - Kempsey Road is closed
- Tingha to Guyra - Guyra Road is closed
- Clouds Creek to Coutts Crossing - Armidale Road is closed
- Comboyne to Cedar Party - Comboyne Road is closed between Sunrise Lane and Colling Road
- Upper Fine Flower - Clarence Way is closed between Carnham Road and Baryugil
- Buccarumbi to Bald Nob - Old Glen Innes Road and Old Grafton Road are closed between Buccarumbi Bridge (near Cunglebung Road) and the Gwydir Highway
- Elands to Marlee - Bulga Road is closed between Middlebrook Road and Colling Road
- East of Nimbin - Tuntable Falls Road and Tuntable Creek Road are closed
The Pacific Highway and the New England Highway are open in both directions.
On the trains, North Coast Train Services, from Sydney to Casino to Grafton and back have been altered until Wednesday due to the bush fires, Transport for NSW says on its websites. Limited coach services will operate to and from Kempsey to the north.
Smoke travels hundreds of km
What catastrophic danger means for you
Greater Sydney and Hunter residents are bracing for "off the scale" fire danger tomorrow.
The NSW Rural Fire Service have determined the fire risk as "catastrophic", the first time this level of danger has been forecast for Sydney."
Catastrophic is the highest level of bushfire danger. Homes are not designed to withstand a fire under these conditions," the RFS said.
"If a fire starts and takes hold during Catastrophic fire danger conditions, lives and homes will be at risk."
A statewide total fire ban has been declared for all areas of NSW for today and tomorrow.
WHAT DOES THE RATING MEAN?
"It's where people die," NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says.
Residents are being warned fires under these conditions are hard to suppress and homes will burn.
People are being told to leave for their survival now.
Brisbane's air quality 'very poor'
A thick smoke haze has blanketed most of Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
The air quality for the cities is listed as 'Very Poor', while the Sunshine Coast is also listed as 'Poor'.
Further north, Gladstone, Mackay and Townsville are all also listed as 'Very Poor'.
According to the World Air Quality Index, Brisbane's air quality is currently worse than large swathes of China, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzen, and is listed as 'Very Unhealthy'.
Authorities are warning people to look out for themselves until the smoke moves out to sea.
"I am urging Queenslanders to remain vigilant if they suffer from pre-existing health conditions that can be exacerbated due smoke and dust," Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young said yesterday.
This includes asthma, diabetes, heart disease or any breathing related condition. She is due to provide an update today.
Eight homes destroyed near Rockhampton
Fire crews have confirmed eight homes were destroyed in the Cobraball area at the weekend.
The dangerous blaze west of Yeppoon also damaged a further five homes, and destroyed or damaged 13 sheds.
The fire is still burning at Mount Lizard, headed towards Bungundarra, Maryvale and Lake Mary. Fire crews are conducting backburning operations in an attempt to control the blaze.
Residents have been urged to leave now if they intend to do so as the situation could get worse.
Health warnings issued
Air quality in Port Macquarie, one of the areas hit by bushfires, has been labelled as 'poor' as NSW Ambulance warned vulnerable people across the state to take care with conditions predicted to worsen.
"People with any respiratory issues or who are particularly vulnerable can be the first to feel the effects of smoke which may aggravate their existing condition," NSW Ambulance posted on Facebook.
"Even healthy adults and children can be impacted by the effects of heavy smoke which can result in lung irritation.
"These conditions can have a serious impact on your health and it is important to remember that our bodies have to work extra hard to cope or cool down.
"Ensure you stay hydrated and pay particular attention to any symptoms (dizziness, headaches, racing pulse or nausea) of heat related illness."
Paramedics also advised anybody in high risk areas to use eyewear to protect themselves, as well as loose clothing to cover skin.
Dramatic footage from near Coffs Harbour
Dramatic footage has emerged of a fire approaching in Tingha, a town on the NSW Northern Tablelands inland from Coffs Harbour.
Homeowners tried to dampen the grass as the blaze approaches.
It is not known if they managed to save their property.
Teen battled raging inferno with just a hose
A 14-year-old boy has spoken of his terror as he was forced to battle a raging inferno that consumed his family home with just a hose on the NSW mid-north coast.
Jake Shardlow, who is from the small town of Bobin, ran back to his home with his dad because he feared his mother was inside.
It was only afterwards he found that she had gotten out safely.
"It was kind of devastating, because we had a lot of memories in there. It was hard," he told Today.
At one stage, Jake was forced to take the shirt off his back and wrap it around his mouth just so he could breathe.
Latest NSW fire figures
576 firefighters
220 trucks
69 fires
10 at 'watch and act' level
0 at 'emergency' level
School closures
Many schools across Sydney, the Blue Mountains and other parts of NSW have closed today due to fire risk - and more will shut tomorrow.
Information on the closures will be posted on the NSW Department of Education website.
Many Catholic schools have announced they will close tomorrow.
They are: Emmaus Catholic College, Kemps Creek
Trinity Catholic Primary, Kemps Creek
St Michael's Primary School, Blacktown South
Catholic Out Of School Hours Care St Michael's, Blacktown
South Catholic Education Early Learning Centre, Mary Queen of the Family Parish, Blacktown
South Nagle College, Blacktown
South Corpus Christi Primary School, Cranebrook
McCarthy Catholic College, Emu Plains
St Finbar's Primary School, Glenbrook
Catholic Out of School Hours Care St Finbar's, Glenbrook
Holy Family Primary School, Luddenham
St Canice's Primary School, Katoomba
St Madeleine's Primary School, Kenthurst
Marian Catholic College, Kenthurst
Our Lady of the Nativity Primary School, Lawson
Xavier College, Llandilo
St Thomas Aquinas Primary School, Springwood
Mater Maria Catholic College, Warriewood
Breaking: NSW declares state of emergency
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has declared a state of emergency due to the catastrophic fire conditions.
The last time this happened was in 2013, due to fires in the Blue Mountains and other areas.
The premier has also granted emergency powers to the RFS commissioner.
Berejiklian said while it's a precaution, it should be taken seriously, especially by people who live in or around bushland.
"This is to make sure that we leave no stone unturned to keep our community safe tomorrow," she said.
"Please do not ignore the messages you receive about your community.
"If you're told the evacuate, please do so. If you're told to take certain actions, please do so.
"And for heaven's sake, stay away from bushland tomorrow.
"The catastrophic weather conditions mean that things can change very quickly.
"You might think you're OK and a few minutes later, you won't be."
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons warned the public not to rely on fire crews tomorrow.
He advised people in high risk areas to leave by tomorrow morning at the latest.
"We cannot guarantee a fire truck at every home," he said.
"We cannot guarantee an aircraft will be overhead every time a fire is impacting on your property.
"We cannot guarantee that someone will knock on the door and give you a warning that there's fires nearby.
"And we certainly cannot guarantee that despite our best efforts the technological tools available will deliver you a message in time.
"If fires start and take hold, they can be burning and impacting on people's homes, people's property, before we even get a 000 call, let alone getting a fire appliance or an aircraft to start dealing with that fire.
"The risk is absolutely real and as the Premier and the Minister said - not being in fire-prone areas, not being in bushland areas is absolutely our highest focus message.
"We know the fires on the northern coast are not going to be contained ahead of tomorrow's weather which means those fires are going to spread, they're going to spread quickly and spread aggressively."
Climate change link to bushfires riles deputy PM
Nationals leader and deputy prime minister Michael McCormack has lashed out at "inner-city lefties" who have raised climate change in relation to the bushfires.
"What people need now is a little bit of sympathy, understanding and real assistance. They need help, they need shelter," he told ABC radio this morning.
"They don't need the ravings of some pure, enlightened and woke capital city greenies at this time when they're trying to save their homes."
Mr McCormack also defended the Morrison government's decision not to meet with senior fire and emergency service leaders demanding action on climate change.
The comments have already drawn backlash.
"I probably couldn't respond how I really feel on television but I think that Michael McCormack needs to read the science, and that is what I am going by, is the science," Carol Sparks, the mayor of bushfire-affected Glen Innes, told the ABC today.
"It is not a political thing. It is a scientific fact that we are going through climate change.
"Of course it's not relevant at the moment when people's houses are burning and you've lost lives, and you've lost friends, and you've lost family.
"You don't think, 'Oh, this is climate change.' You think, 'What am I going to do next and how will I save myself?'
"To deny climate change is, to me, a very ill-informed and uneducated way of looking at things."
Greens MP Richard Di Natale was also unimpressed.
'I can't describe the shock that you go through'
Paul Miscamble watched his home in Bobin, on the NSW Mid North Coast, burn to the ground.
"I can't describe the shock that you go through, or how fast that fire moves," he told Allison Langdon on Today.
Much of the town was destroyed in the blaze but the community is pulling together.
The NSW fires in numbers
The latest update from the NSW RFS:
- 547 firefighters are on the ground
- 202 firefighting vehicles
- 61 fires are burning
- 10 are at Watch and Act level
- Zero at Emergency level
Financial impact of bushfires to reach 'hundreds of millions of dollars'
The Insurance Council has declared the NSW North Coast fires a catastrophe, meaning those claims will be prioritised first.
Nine finance editor Ross Greenwood said the cost of the bushfires is going to soar into the "hundreds of millions of dollars".
Greenwood offered some advice for those affected by fires seeking to make an insurance claim.
"There are some basic rules here people need to understand," he said.
"If you are going to make a claim under these circumstances the insurance companies will send emergency teams to these areas to help sort you out but then the second part is, when you go back into your home you should make no changes unless you have actually cleared that with your insurance company.
"And you should take lots of photographs and take lots and lots of video for the assessors when they come in.
"They are generally pretty quick coming through, in my experience.
"But again just make certain you don't start to make any structural changes and also make certain of course that the property is safe and you have been given clearance from the local fire authorities to go back into your home."
'Suppression is futile': Fire bosses warn help may not come
NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has warned residents that help may not come immediately tomorrow.
He urged people to leave the area early and have a plan.
"In those conditions, fire behaviour is erratic and extreme to say the least and we won't be putting fires out when they take hold," he said.
"Suppression is futile. The focus is on life safety and life protection.
"We will not and cannot guarantee a fire truck or aircraft at anyone's house.
"We cannot guarantee a knock at the door or an emergency alert coming through on your phone to give you a warning."
Emotional tributes to fire victims
Three people have died in the fires so far.
The body of Julie Fletcher, 63, was discovered in her burnt-out home in the town of Johns River some 40 kilometres north of Taree on the mid-north coast.
Fires swept through the area on Saturday afternoon.
Ms Fletcher's neighbour Russell Souter said she was a "quality person".
"(She) would help you any time, her father was the same, they're just a really good family," Mr Souter told the ABC yesterday.
Ms Fletcher's sister told Mr Souter she was "just devastated".
"What do you when you lose a family member?" he said.
The second victim of Friday's firestorm, who was found in a burnt car near Glen Innes, is George Nole.
Those who knew Mr Nole, an elderly man from Wytaliba, took to Facebook to pay tribute to him.
"He was such a gentlemen. Will be missed by many," Crystal Grob posted.
Wytaliba resident Vivian Chaplain, 69, was earlier named as one of the victims.
Ms Chaplain was treated for burns before being transferred to a Sydney hospital where she later died, the Rural Fire Service NSW said on Saturday.
Friends have posted emotional tributes on social media.
"I am so sorry for your loss ... Vivian was such a beautiful person," Laura Hayden wrote on Facebook.
Queensland facing its own nightmare day
While tomorrow looms as the danger day for NSW, Wednesday is shaping up to be extremely volatile for Queensland.
That's when north-westerly winds from Central NSW are going to be making their way up north, with temperatures nudging 40 degrees.
There are 47 fires still burning across Queensland, with none at Emergency level this morning.
Why conditions have reached 'catastrophic' level
Weatherzone's Ben Domensino says he's never seen conditions this bad across such a widespread area.
Bone-dry conditions across South Australia, Victoria, NSW and Queensland have seen elevated warnings across multiple days.
"We know the drought's been widespread and in some places record breaking," he told Deb Knight on Today.
"We have known this has been coming for months because we've had this dry weather leading up to the hottest time of year.
"Now we're seeing the winds increasing, the temperatures increasing, which are typical of this time of year.
"But we don't normally have this much fuel.
"We are seeing all of those conditions combined to create the perfect conditions for catastrophic fire danger ratings which is the highest rating on that scale and the first time it has been issued for Sydney."
And while temperatures will cool down later this week, there will not be any long-term respite.
"We are not looking at any significant rain which is not great news but the temperatures will cool down a bit from the middle of the week," Mr Domensino said.
"Looking further ahead, the forecast is unfortunately for below average rain and above average temperatures, really for the rest of the year as we head into summer."
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