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NSW braces for severe heatwave as homes feared lost in Blue Mountains Australia fires: up to 20 buildings feared lost near Sydney as extreme heat forecast
(about 8 hours later)
Reports of properties burnt as New South Wales prepares for hot weather and continuing fires Number of properties burnt set to rise as New South Wales and other states prepare for heatwave
New South Wales is preparing for severe heatwave conditions in the coming week after an emergency warning was issued for the major Gospers Mountain blaze on Sunday afternoon. The number of properties damaged or destroyed by bushfires raging across New South Wales is set to rise after firefighters lost control of a backburn, inadvertently starting another blaze.
By Monday morning, the fire was downgraded to“watch and act” level after firefighters worked overnight to contain the blaze around Mount Wilson, Mount Tomah and Berambing, but there are fears a number of homes and buildings have been lost. Up to 20 buildings - including homes - are feared lost after the huge Gospers Mountain blaze northwest of Sydney spread out of control on Sunday.
In Western Australia, an emergency warning was in place on Monday for areas north of Perth, where a fire has been burning out of control for six days. Almost 2000 firefighters were battling 108 blazes across NSW on Monday, ahead of extreme heat forecast for much of Australia throughout the rest of the week.
The fire is still threatening lives and homes at Woodridge, Seatrees and Breakwater Estates. It has destroyed almost 13,000 hectares and is and being battled by more than 300 firefighters.“Forecast weather conditions mean there is still a high risk of flare-ups as winds strengthen,” the WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services said on Monday. Meanwhile, an emergency warning for another fire at Mogumber, also north of Perth, has been downgraded to a watch and act. Heat records could tumble, with forecast tops of 44C in Adelaide on Friday, 41C in Melbourne on Friday, and 43C in Canberra on Saturday.
In NSW, conditions will worsen this week, with heatwave conditions set to descend across the state and the Australian Capital Territory from Wednesday onwards. Areas of inland South Australia are forecast to have five consecutive days of 45C or hotter, with three consecutive days of 47C and above.
Across Thursday, Friday and Saturday, nearly the entire state of NSW will be sweltering under a severe heatwave, with patches of extreme heatwave conditions. Brisbane equalled its record for the hottest December day at 41.2C on Monday.
On Thursday, Sydney’s city is set for a high of 36C, with smoke haze. In Penrith in the city’s west, it will be even hotter, at 43C. Emergency warnings were also issued on Monday for fires burning in Queensland and Western Australia.
In Canberra, it is forecast to reach 41C on Thursday. If reached, that would break the record for the capital’s highest December temperature, set at 39.2C in December 1994. Fire authorities in WA were hoping to downgrade the emergency warning for the bushfire burning near Yanchep on Monday afternoon, to allow residents to begin returning home.
It will be even hotter on Saturday, with a forecast of 43C. John Newman, the incident controller of the Yanchep fire with the department of fire and emergency services, told ABC radio in Perth that he hoped that calmer weather conditions would mean that the warning level for Woodridge, Seatrees and Breakwater Estates could be lifted.
In Sydney on Saturday, it will reach 34C in the city, and 46C in Penrith. Residents in the regional Queensland community of Mount Maria, about 75 kilometres north of Bundaberg, were told to leave their homes as a bushfire fast approached on Monday.
Overall, every day from Tuesday to Sunday will be over 30C for the western Sydney suburb. The same Leave Now warning was issued for Gregory River (north of Childers).
But on Monday, conditions eased, if only briefly after the weekend. The multiple evacuations came as the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre warned NSW faced a long and challenging fire season ahead after an unprecedented start.
The NSW Rural Fire Service said fire activity had “reduced” around the Gospers Mountain blaze, and “there is currently no immediate threat”. With 2019 registering the second-hottest and driest January to November period for Australia, the centre warned the combination of severely dry conditions, high temperatures and low humidity was behind the dangerous fire season.
The fireground stretches from the Lithgow area in the west, through the Hawkesbury area and towards the Central Coast in the east. The entire eastern third of NSW is facing an above-normal fire potential into 2020.
But authorities have warned there’s a risk that embers from the fire could fall in the Bilpin area, starting new blazes ahead of the main fire front. Emergency warnings were issued on Monday for the Gospers Mountain blaze and another bushfire - the nearby 1600-hectare fire at Palmers Oaky.
So far the fire has burned through almost 380,000 hectares. People living in the Wolgan Valley, Wallerawang, Lisdale and Blackmans Flat areas were told it was too late to leave on Monday as the Gospers Mountain fire approached.
On Sunday an emergency warning was issued for Gospers Mountain and there were reports some properties had been lost in the Mount Tomah and Mount Wilson areas. Greenpeace issued a statement on Monday as the Rural Fire Service warned of the fire approaching Wallerawang, which is close to the operating Springvale coal mine as well as an abandoned power station.
A home at Mount Wilson was lost and several sheds and buildings at Mount Tomah were destroyed, the Daily Telegraph reported on Monday. The Gospers Mountain bushfire - which is nearing 400,000 hectares in size - was also upgraded to emergency level on Sunday when a controlled blaze started by firefighters breached containment lines.
With 110 fires burning in the state the RFS is concerned about conditions from Wednesday onwards. The affected properties are thought to be in the Mount Wilson and Bilpin areas and might include some belonging to local RFS members.
“There’s going to be a lot of work going on over the next 24 hours to try and just see what we can do to protect as many properties as we can, but people should be under no illusions,” the RFS deputy commissioner, Rob Rogers, said on Sunday night. RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said firefighters were trying their best to help the local community and had been “executing some very sensible, some very risky, some very challenging, decisions”.
“We’re going to have to get through this next week of really hot weather with these fires being very active.” “Unfortunately things don’t always go to plan and we’ve seen how quickly things can change and how destructive the consequences can be,” he told ABC TV.
Total fire bans are in place for Monday for the Central Ranges, the north-western area, northern slopes and New England region where the fire danger rating has been set at “severe”. Some 450 customers were without electricity due to damaged power lines in the upper Blue Mountains, Endeavour Energy said on Monday.
Six people have died and 2.7m hectares have been scorched so far this fire season. Some 724 homes, 49 facilities and 1,582 outbuildings have been destroyed. The Gospers Mountain fire now extends from the Lithgow area in the west, through the Hawkesbury area towards the Central Coast in the east.
Along with six adjoining blazes it’s been dubbed a “mega-blaze” and has burned through more than half a million hectares.
Total fire bans are in place on Tuesday for the northwestern and northern regions where the fire danger rating will be “very high”.
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast severe heatwave conditions for most of NSW throughout the week.
Forested areas on and east of the Great Dividing Range will continue to see above-normal fire potential this summer due to forecast warmer and drier conditions across the state, the cooperative research centre said.
Areas to the west of the divide have reduced fire potential because the drought has left minimal grass.
Some 724 homes, 49 facilities and 1582 outbuildings have been destroyed this bushfire season in NSW, while six people have died.