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Australia fires live: NSW tourists told to evacuate south coast and 17 missing in Victoria bushfires – latest
Australia fires live: NSW state of emergency declared as 17 missing in Victoria bushfires – latest
(32 minutes later)
At least 10 people have died since Christmas Day, and the RFS is urging people to evacuate the New South Wales south coast before dangerous conditions on the weekend. Follow the live news and latest updates today
At least nine people have died since Christmas Day, and the RFS is urging people to evacuate the New South Wales south coast before dangerous conditions on the weekend. Follow the live news and latest updates today
NSW RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons who is continuing to show just absolute outstanding leadership, says the state of emergency is necessary.
An ADF liaison officer has been sent to the ACT in case things change suddenly.
Gladys Berejiklian is holding a press conference - authorities will have the power to forcibly evacuate people, given the conditions which are predicted for Saturday.
There is an ADF liaison officer in every fire command centre in NSW and Victoria.
The state of alert for the ACT is because of the severe weather conditions which are going to hit the wider Canberra area.
The ACT government is not declaring a state of emergency just yet – but it is declaring a state of alert, which is the step beforehand.
That’s because of the conditions the ACT will be facing on Saturday. So far the fires have not hit the ACT directly, but it is butting against the ACT and it wouldn’t take much for that to change.
The NSW state of emergency starts tomorrow and will last for a week.
The main power that will come into play is the power authorities have to forcibly evacuate people.
So what can we take from that?
Tomorrow is not going to be great, but Saturday is going to be even worse - potentially even worse than what we saw on New Year’s Eve.
The Shoalhaven is an area of particular concern.
But looking at the map, there is fire stretching from the Victorian border to just outside Sydney. That is a lot of area to cover and a lot of challenges for fire authorities as conditions get even worse.
The Victorian fires are also worrying the NSW RFS.
On how the evacuations are going today, Gladys Berejiklian says things are going as well as can be expected:
Where are fire authorties worried about? Pretty much everywhere at this point.
Shane Fitzsimmons:
The RFS commissioner continues:
Saturday sounds like absolute hell for everyone in the fire zone.
Shane Fitzsimmons:
Fire authorities are preparing for the worst case scenario on Saturday, after what happened on Tuesday.
Shane Fitzsimmons talks about Friday:
NSW RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, who is continuing to show just absolute outstanding leadership, says the state of emergency is necessary.
Gladys Berejiklian is holding a press conference – authorities will have the power to forcibly evacuate people, given the conditions which are predicted for Saturday.
Cool beans.
Cool beans.
Quick update on the Woolworths stores in the south coast.
Narooma and Bermagui stores are closed, but all others are still open. Eftpos is down in the Batemans Bay store, so you will need cash for that.
Stock is said to be good, although the highway closure between Ulladulla and Nowra could impact some stores, as trucks are unable to replenish supplies, but that is being closely monitored. Woolworths is also working with the Salvation Army to supply the evacuations centres – two trucks are on their way to the region just for that.
From a spokesperson:
It is small fry given what else is going on, but the air quality in Canberra continues to be hazardous. Masks and air purifiers are sold out, with retailers unable to tell people when new stock will come in.
Travellers have been urged to avoid the Eyre Highway, the main road from the east coast to Western Australia, which has been closed due to bushfires since Christmas and is not expected to open until next week.
All four roads into the WA town of Norseman have been cut off by bushfire since Christmas Day, and the fire danger rating for the region on Thursday is catastrophic.
But Dundas shire president Laurene Bonza stressed that they were not as badly affected as communities in the eastern states.
“The whole country is on fire,” she said. “It’s a disaster of epic proportions.”
Bonza urged people not to attempt to travel on the Eyre Highway, reminding visitors that the names on the map along the Eyre Highway are just roadhouses with limited supplies, not towns that can accommodate a large number of visitors.
Maureen O’Halloran is the manager of the Caiguna Roadhouse, which is at the eastern edge of the Eyre Highway roadblock.
She told 6PR that 120 people were booked at the roadhouse and sheltering out back, and another 60-70 trucks and cars were parked on the road verge out the front.They are running out of essential supplies.
“We ran out of toilet paper so that’s why they had to come in yesterday, especially for hygienic purposes,” O’Halloran told Perth radio station 6PR on Thursday.
“It is draining our basic supplies because we wouldn’t have this many people using our water. We don’t have rain here so we actually make our water here, so that desalination plant is really really getting smashed at the moment.”
This is just so heartbreakingly tragic – as is all the loss.
Massive thanks to Luke for stepping back in there for a bit, you have Amy Remeikis again
Brendan, a Mallacoota resident, has been tirelessly tweeting out info from the isolated town the last few days.
Trapped residents and visitors have just had a community briefing, after the arrival of defence force personnel this morning. The response is being coordinated by police, supplemented by the CFA and other services.
Brendan said there were thousands of people crammed in the community hall, with speakers set up outside for those who couldn’t get in.
These are his notes:
CFA providing an update on the fire situation. Same info as available on VicEmergency app. Some concern about hot and windy weather changes in the next several days.
Mallacoota-Genoa road still blocked with trees. Very dangerous to start clearing now. Will take some time to open.
ADF people and aircraft are here. 2 x CFA strike teams still here. Third coming in by water tomorrow.
Confirms no active fire fronts nearby but spot fires are still happening.
Police back on now. Say road to the tip is clear. Waste collection is a priority. Still working on solving the petrol shortage.
Police sergeant reading the emergency information sent to people’s phones. Only Telstra phones are working so many missed it.
Emphasising that this is *not* a compulsory evacuation, but optional. Looks like evac by boat will be available for anyone if they want it.
Personal belongings on the evac would be limited to carry-on size. Police remaining in town to secure remaining houses and vehicles.
Giggles in the hall as the ADF say boarding would have to be by rope ladder hanging over the side of the ship (seriously) followed by angry shushing.
Unclear what will happen to people offloaded at the evac destination.
Community offering private boats to help load people. ADF day they have it under control. Can load very quickly themselves. Asked private boats to stay out of the way.
Evac destination stated to be Western Port but may change.
ADF and police are focusing on getting people registered to evac so they can scope the effort. Nothing else to report at this time.
Briefing opened by local police senior sergeant but interrupted because speakers outside aren’t working.
