Bushfires in NSW and Queensland: firefighters on edge as winds intensify

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/09/bushfires-in-nsw-and-queensland-firefighters-on-edge-as-winds-intensify

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Authorities fear strengthening winds across New South Wales will fuel the dozens of fires burning out of control in the state on Monday, while residents of properties in the Gold Coast hinterland have been given a first look at the devastation caused by the fires in Queensland.

NSW fire crews spent the weekend fighting a number of intense blazes, with a watch-and-act alert remaining for fires near Armidale and Tenterfield in the state’s west and north.

The Armidale fire has already razed almost 63,000 hectares – twice the size of the Sydney city council area – while at Drake about 32,000 hectares have been destroyed.

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On Monday, the NSW Rural Fire Service confirmed five properties had been destroyed and another five damaged by fires, mostly near Tenterfield.

“Across the fire grounds impacted, more than 200 homes in the immediate area of the fires were saved,” the RFS said in a statement.

But the service predicted more damage to come as winds increased.

“It’s going to be another tough day for firefighters,” the deputy commissioner, Rob Rogers, told the ABC on Monday.

“These winds, coupled with the underlying drought affecting much of NSW, has made firefighting extremely difficult.”

Armidale experienced early-morning winds of up to 40km/h and gusts of up to 60km/h on Monday.

That blaze was burning on multiple fronts and was being pushed towards the north-east by strong winds.

Crews worked overnight with home owners to protect isolated properties in the area, while a number of tactical backburns were also conducted.

“We have hundreds of firefighters out there doing our best to protect property,” Rogers said.

“Unfortunately, we think that the property loss will climb from what we understand has been lost so far but it will take some time until crews can get in there and tally those costs.”

Neville Smith, a volunteer firefighter who was critically injured on Friday, remained in a critical but stable condition at Royal Brisbane hospital.

The 66-year-old was taken to hospital on Friday after his hands, arm, legs, back, face and airways were burned while he and a colleague fought a fire south of Tenterfield.

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North of the border more than 50 fires continued to burn across Queensland, the most dangerous in the Gold Coast hinterland, where homes and the heritage-listed Binna Burra Lodge were destroyed.

Officials have declared 47 homes across the state are either damaged or completely destroyed.

The emergency services minister, Craig Crawford, said on Monday the emergency ws far from over.

“I think we are through the worst of it, but we still have a couple of days to go before it really starts to cool down,” he said.

Early on Monday the Gold Coast hinterland fire was not threatening any homes but residents were warned that strong winds were making conditions volatile.

Crews contained a fire around the Queensland border towns of Stanthorpe and Applethorpe, but they were preparing for dry winds.

On Monday fires were also burning north of Rockhampton, another near Gympie and one west of Toowoomba, but no homes were under threat in those areas.

On Sunday police escorted some evacuated Gold Coast hinterland residents back to their properties so they could get their first glimpse of homes destroyed by the fires.

Scenic Rim mayor Greg Christensen said a small convoy of evacuees from the Binna Burra and Sarabah areas were allowed to return home on Sunday to check on animals and get much-needed medications.

Christensen, who said the fires that had razed 11 homes in the area were still not under control, said the residents had been warned their homes were gone but that this was the first time they could assess the damage.