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NSW fires: firefighters injured after crew 'enveloped by fire' south-west of Sydney – live NSW fires: firefighters injured after crew 'enveloped by fire' south-west of Sydney – live
(32 minutes later)
All of New South Wales, South Australia, large parts of Queensland, and northern Victoria have been placed under a total fire ban on Thursday with extreme weather forecast. Follow the latest bushfires news and updatesAll of New South Wales, South Australia, large parts of Queensland, and northern Victoria have been placed under a total fire ban on Thursday with extreme weather forecast. Follow the latest bushfires news and updates
Three fire fighters have been seriously injured in NSW today, with two airlifted for emergency treatment. Fitzsimmons has also warned that Saturday could be worse.
RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said a crew of five was enveloped by fire near the Bargo area, with a number of crew members suffering serious burn injuries. Today, he says, conditions have shaped up to be as bad as he feared.
“They were first treated by their fire and rescue counterparts who were close by with first aid before being transported to the local showground, where ambulance paramedics arrived on scene to triage and treat and assess the injuries,” he said. “Down the south coast, we saw weather stations registering extreme fire danger ratings with a combination of high 30s, low 40 temperatures and strong westerlies. That was at 10am.
Two members of the crew received airway burns, and needed to be intubated to protect their breathing, he said. “We’re expecting to see that sort of environment unfolding Saturday when the temperatures and strong winds from the west will be dominant from 9am or 10am in the morning and this will sustained for 10-15 hours. Saturday will be a very, very difficult day.”
A 36 year-old and 56 year-old male were airlifted from the scene with serious facial and airway burns, and burns to other parts of their bodies including their arms, elbow, upper chest and a leg. Replacement crews – from interstate but also from the US and Canada – are scheduled to arrive on the scene on Saturday, and help the RFS battle the blazes.
The fires that “enveloped” a crew of five firefighters today switched from metre-high blazes to towering infernos too quickly to escape, according to RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.
“I have had field reports from out there that very quickly they saw lots of fire activity from metre-high flame heights, to flames burning through the tops of trees and canopy burning, crowning fires, under very strong winds,” Fitzsimmons says. “It was very volatile, very dynamic and, unfortunately, emblematic of much of the fire behaviour we’ve seen, under the hot, dry, windy conditions.”
The “dozens” of homes lost that comissioner Fitzsimmons referred to are mostly around Bargo in the Wollondilly shire.
Of that, some are the homes of firefighters themselves, who were out today at other firegrounds.
There is “quite a considerable amount of property being impacted”, Fitzsimmons told reporters. People’s homes, businesses, and even poultry farming operations in the area could be affected, he says.
He says the firefighters who lost their homes are “absolutely shattered” .
“They’re devastated by loss no matter what, but it just goes that little further when it’s your own home, or the colleague you’ve got sitting on the fire truck next to you, having lost their home, while they’re out saving others.
“So it’s a tough afternoon. It will be another very emotional, very draining day for our firefighters.”
The Rural Fire Service, the defence force and search-and-rescue teams have been mobilised to rescue people in the small NSW town of Itchenstoke, according to RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.
Itchenstoke, north of Bilpin, on the Bells Line of Road, became isolated today when fire cut off the only road in and out of the town.
“The advice [to people in the town] was to shelter in place as the fire approaches,” Fitzsimmons said. “Some of our aircraft, particularly working with our defence force with the search and rescue teams ... were [then] touching down in that area and helping to extract a few people that wanted to be relocated out of that vicinity and that was safely done as I understand it.”
“Dozens” of structures, including homes, have been lost in the fires today, according to RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.
“There are lots of buildings including people’s homes and livelihoods that are being impacted by this fire this afternoon,” he has told a press briefing.
The cool change bringing relief to many in NSW this afternoon is increasing the danger.
“You get increased volatility, erratic fire behaviour and you get dramatic changes in fire intensity and fire spread. It’s still a very difficult set of circumstances in around the fire ground both for firefighters, emergency services and also for the communities in and around that area being impacted,” he said.
It looks like we’re getting a white Christmas, but not one we would ever have wished for.
Three firefighters have been seriously injured in NSW today, with two airlifted for emergency treatment.
RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said a crew of five was overrun by fire near the Bargo area, with a number of crew members suffering serious burn injuries.
“My advice is that the crews were operating and this particular crew, a crew of five, were overrun by fire. Enveloped by fire.”
“They were first treated by their Fire and Rescue counterparts who were close by with first aid before being transported to the local showground, where ambulance paramedics arrived on scene to triage and treat and assess the injuries,” he said.
Two members of the crew received airway burns and needed to be intubated to protect their breathing, he said.
A 36-year-old and 56-year-old male were airlifted from the scene with serious facial and airway burns, and burns to other parts of their bodies including their arms, elbow, upper chest and a leg.
A female was also treated for smoke inhalation and superficial burns and was taken to hospital by road ambulance.A female was also treated for smoke inhalation and superficial burns and was taken to hospital by road ambulance.
There are currently 50 fires un-contained in NSW, with a number at emergency level. There are currently 50 fires uncontained in NSW, with a number at emergency level.
NSW RFS are on patrol at the Hawkesbury River.NSW RFS are on patrol at the Hawkesbury River.
The cool change has reached the Illawarra region, and there is not long to wait for relief from the heat for greater Sydney, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.The cool change has reached the Illawarra region, and there is not long to wait for relief from the heat for greater Sydney, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The Hume Highway has now been closed between Campbelltown and Mittagong due to the Green Wattle Creek fire.The Hume Highway has now been closed between Campbelltown and Mittagong due to the Green Wattle Creek fire.
Footage of the Gospers Mountain fire showing the scale of the fire front.
NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge has been arrested at the Sydney climate protest.
Shoebridge told Guardian Australia that he was at the rally to show solidarity with the student protestors, but had been attempting to comply with a NSW police move-on order when “they cut me off, arrested me and put me in the back of a paddy wagon”.
“It was all very unnecessary and a complete waste of police and court time, and obviously we’ll be defending it,” he said.
Shoebridge described a chaotic scene at the protest, as police attempted to issue mass move-on notices via loudhailer, but were shouted down by protestors.
“Then they [the riot squad] came in as a kind of phalanx and started singling out individuals and issuing them with single move-on directions,” he said.
Australia has reached “Devil’s armpit” level on the heat map, according to cartoonist Glen Le Lievre.
The RFS is emphasising the risk posed by a southerly wind change this afternoon, with Bargo likely to be quickly moved into the fire’s path.
Accused “raving inner-city lunatic” (see below) and leader of the Australian Greens, Dr Richard Di Natale, has released a statement today calling for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to convene an emergency meeting to address the fires.
His statement calls on the PM to do the following:
An emergency warning has been released for Gospers Mountain. It is now too late to leave.
Local incident commander for the Rural Fire Service David Stimpson has urged motorists to stay off the roads in the Green Wattle Fire zone.
“Stay off. I don’t think I can be any more stern than that. The situation is that some people may have to move, and I would say only move if it’s absolutely necessary, otherwise stay where you are,” he told the ABC.
He was responding to reports from locals that roads were becoming heavily congested from Picton towards the Hume Highway.
“[Cars already on the roads should] move out of the area so you are not contributing to a buildup of traffic that may impact on the movement of our fire appliances,” he said.
Winds could shift the fire direction towards more heavily populated areas in Buxton and towards Tarmoor, and locals needed to prepare, he said.
Alerts have previously been issued that it is too late to evacuate from these areas.
ABC crews at Balmoral, near Picton in the NSW southern highlands, are reporting that they can see at least three homes on fire from their helicopter.
Forget climate change — let’s talk about exploding horse manure
Yes. Michael McCormack, deputy prime minister of Australia, would like inner-city Greenies to know that while climate change may be a factor in the worsening bushfire risk, so too is exploding horse manure.
This is not actually as ridiculous as it sounds. Spontaneous combustion of hay sheds on very hot days is not unheard of, and horse manure, when dried, is basically compacted, smelly hay. Spontaneously combusting manure piles is a recognised barn fire hazard, according to the three minutes of Googling I just did. Of course, in Australia, horse manure generally lies in the paddock and crumbles into dust pretty quickly. Anyway.
This is what McCormack said, in full, via my colleague Naaman Zhou.
Last month, McCormack said that blaming climate change on bushfires was “inner-city Greenies ravings”. He said today that those comments had been misreported, that he did not say the link between climate change and bushfires was “inner-city ravings” and that the ravings were actually comments stating that prime minister Scott Morrison was responsible for the fatal bushfires.
McCormack:
Glad that’s cleared up.
‘Adani is going ahead’: McCormack
Today is apparently a good day to talk about increasing Australia’s coal exports. That will be one of Scott Morrison’s aims when he visits India next month, acting PM Michael McCormack told reporters today, which could include talks to advance the Indian-owned Adani coalmine.
McCormack:
McCormack was then asked the obvious question: you’re talking about coal exports while standing in the incident control centre for a statewide bushfire emergency. What about the link between climate change and bushfires?
His answer is going to need another post.