Bushfires in Australia set record as 'armageddon' hits the NSW coast

Stuff.co.nz,

9 November, 2019

Three people are unaccounted for and more than 100 homes have been destroyed in Australia as an "unprecedented" bushfire emergency continues to devastate parts of the state of New South Wales.

The NSW Rural Fire Service said more than 30 people had also been injured in the bushfires, seven of which were still burning at emergency warning level on Saturday morning.

DEAN SEWELL/SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Trees burn dangerously close to property at Lakes Way north of Forster in New South Wales, Australia.

Firefighters earlier warned of "widespread property damage" as they continue to battle a number of out-of-control blazes burning across the north coast and northern NSW in the midst of unprecedented bushfire conditions.

Twelve fires were burning at emergency levels across the state early on Saturday morning, slightly down on the 17 recorded on Friday evening, but strong winds and erratic fire behaviour continued to plague the firefighting effort.

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As many as 350 out of 600 animals on the reserve in New South Wales have been killed.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons acknowledged that the state had "never had this many fires at emergency level".

"We are in uncharted territory ... we've never seen this many fires concurrently at emergency warning level," he said.

The RFS said that many people had called for help but the size and speed of the fires meant they could not get to everyone.

Homes, buildings and facilities have been destroyed on the Mid North Coast, according to the RFS, although "the exact number won't be known for some time".

Fitzsimmons said the RFS was receiving preliminary reports of property damage, and minor injuries to both firefighters and members of the general public.

"We can certainly see some of the aerial footage and the vision coming through which is identifying some widespread property damage and destruction right across multiple firegrounds," Fitzsimmons told the ABC.

Residents in Bellbrook, Willi Willi, Bora Ridge, Lower Creek or Comara were told it was too late to leave as road access was blocked due to various different fires, while those in Coutts Crossing, Old Bar, Tinonee, Purfleet, Wallabi Point, Laurieton and Dunbogan were encouraged to evacuate.

MidCoast Mayor David West, who lives in Brimbin, said that he had never seen anything like the nearby fire.

"I'm looking at a sky that's screaming danger, that's saying 'get out of my way, I'm going to kill you'," he said.

"I know that sounds melodramatic but it's not. This is a fire that's devouring everything in its path."

The Pacific Highway is closed.

Windy conditions worsened bushfire conditions across a drought-stricken NSW, where emergency warning were activated for fires burning at Tenterfield in the state's north.Macquarie.

Fire crews are in the midst of a horrific 48 hours with hot and windy conditions causing havoc as new fires start and existing fires jump containment lines. There is also concern fires will combine.

"It's going to be very hot and very dry and very windy," RFS spokesman Greg Allan said. "We are likely to see conditions subside a little over the weekend, but things to pick up again early next week."

'Like Armageddon'

As a "skyscraper of flames" came towards Maria Doherty and her Port Macquarie property on Friday, the scene looked "like armageddon."

It was 4pm when Doherty, her five children, two goats and a dog piled into the family car to flee their three-acre property, leaving behind a backyard ablaze and her husband battling spot fires lit by sparks falling every which way.

"Within 30 minutes this great wall of fire just came from the back of our cul de sac and within seconds the trees were catching fire, and the sky was orange and yellow. It was like Armageddon," she said.

At her family's property in Thrumster, just 8 kilometres out of Port Macquarie, Doherty said the pace of the fire was like nothing she had ever experienced.

"But then like heroes through the smoke, the blue and red lights of the RFS truck came tearing through ... Amazingly they have saved all ten houses on the cul de sac ... and even brought my washing in," she said.

"I got a call around 7.30pm on Thursday from one of the firies. He said, you must have left in a bit of a hurry, but don't worry, I've brought in all your washing for you. They did an absolutely awesome job."

Port Macquarie resident Ruth Allen was looking out over the ocean on Lighthouse Beach on Friday afternoon. She could barely see the structure the beach is named after, which was shrouded in what she said was a "hideous red colour".

Allen has lived in the area for 12 years. She said nothing had previously threatened homes to this extent.

"We had a couple of bushfires up on the north shore, and there have, of course, been fires out further, but this is the first time since we've lived here where we've seen anything like this. It's incredibly unusual. This is driest I've seen it," she said.

As she spoke to the Herald, she noted the ash getting thicker outside. Even though she does not suffer from asthma, she said she had been coughing and wheezing.

"But we're the lucky ones. I've been speaking to people whose homes are on the front line and they're scared. But to be honest, we're all getting scared now."

Emergency warning

In the early hours of Saturday morning there were 82 fires burning across the state, with 45 yet to be contained. Twelve of those fires were at emergency warning. Fires upgraded to "emergency warning" level included those in Rumba Dump in the Tapin Tops National Park, and Jacobs Spur in Kempsey.

"We're miles away from the fires at Lake Cathie and Crowdy Head, but the smoke is still incredibly thick here, and you can feel ash dropping from the sky," Port Macquarie resident Laura Begbie said.

"It's incredibly eerie here, and it's almost pitch black. It's the middle of the day, but I still have every light on in the house. The smoke has left me feeling quite ill and exhausted, but I'm mostly concerned about my friends who live closer to the fires."

On Friday evening Commissioner Fitzsimmons thanked fire crews for "getting the job done," but said it was time to prepare for the months ahead.

"There is nothing to suggest anything but a dominance of above average temperatures and below average rainfall ... There is so much fire out there in the landscape there is going to be so much work required by crews."

Four of the state's 21 fire areas will have total fire bans tomorrow even as the state cools off behind a cold front.