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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Australia fires live: one dead in NSW and six missing in Victoria in Australian bushfires – latest updates | Australia fires live: one dead in NSW and six missing in Victoria in Australian bushfires – latest updates |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| NSW RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says he was frustrated to learn of ADF deployment from the media. Follow all today’s live news and latest updates | NSW RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says he was frustrated to learn of ADF deployment from the media. Follow all today’s live news and latest updates |
| The defence minister Linda Reynolds tells the ABC that defence bases between Brisbane and Adelaide are being opened to help house people who have lost their homes in the bushfires. | |
| She also gives an update on where the HMAS Adelaide, which is working to help the HMAS Choules with evacuations: | |
| The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia has released a statement on the “horror and shock” it and its members are feeling, while calling for a coordinated recovery response. | |
| It has also said ‘enough’ to the climate denialist garbage, because it has “endangered us all” | |
| From CEO Peter Strong: | |
| You can read the whole statement here | |
| Power is still out in a lot of places - we are working on finding out a number. You can find out more here in the meantime. | |
| Authorities are still asking residents in NSW and the ACT to keep non-essential power use down, if possible. | |
| Stephanie Convery has also done an excellent synopsis of how the Morrison government has reacted to the fire crisis, since it began in September, as well: | |
| [Cont from previous post] | |
| The road was surrounded by fire. | |
| “I didn’t know there’d been a call to take shelter. We came up to a crest or bend and there was a fire surrounding the road,” Mordy says. | |
| “We were in the middle of it so we just had to keep going. | |
| “I’m pretty calm but I was terrified. It gave me a massive shock. The raining ash. The fierce wind. The confusion seeing all those cars suddenly pull over.” | |
| They spent the night in Wollongong and can’t get back to Bundanoon. The property at this stage is safe, which Mordy describes as “a miracle” given its proximity to the national park. | |
| “I think it’s good for people to know the app doesn’t necessarily update fast enough. It was lucky my dad looked at the sky. Sometimes it’s good to look past your screens.” | |
| In Bundanoon, the sky turning red was a sign that it was time to leave. Gabrielle Mordy had been visiting her father, Martyn, whose property backs on to national park. It is under threat from the Morton fire, which started after the Currowan fire jumped the Shoalhaven River on Saturday night. | |
| For days Gabrielle and Martyn had been preparing and monitoring fire activity. She had been watching the Fires Near Me app and believed they were safe to stay and defend. | |
| “We intended to stay and were preparing the property more. I was watching the app all the time and the fire due to come towards Bundanoon didn’t appear to be moving,” she said. | |
| “Then the wind started and then it started to rain ash and black leaves and still the app said we were safe but it was extremely unnerving.” | |
| Then pyrocumulonimbus clouds started forming and, at 9pm, Mordy says “the sky went red”. | |
| “At that point we thought something is really wrong now.” | |
| They left in two packed cars and were driving out of town on the Bundanoon Road when “all of a sudden the cars in front of us started pulling over”. | |
| Helen Davidson has been covering the southern NSW fires overnight. Here is some of her report: | |
| To get an idea of what the rest of the night was like, you can find the story here: | |
| For many areas, February is the worst month of the fire season. We have a long, long way to go this summer. | For many areas, February is the worst month of the fire season. We have a long, long way to go this summer. |
| Campbell Fuller of the Insurance Council of Australia has given an indication of just how much property damage has been done so far: | Campbell Fuller of the Insurance Council of Australia has given an indication of just how much property damage has been done so far: |
| Andrew Crisp, the Victorian emergency commissioner, has given the ABC a very quick update on what his state is facing today: | Andrew Crisp, the Victorian emergency commissioner, has given the ABC a very quick update on what his state is facing today: |
| The Australia Defence Association is a non-partisan organisation: | The Australia Defence Association is a non-partisan organisation: |
| Piers Morgan is a conservative commentator: | Piers Morgan is a conservative commentator: |
| And you know who Kevin Rudd is (although I am trying to imagine the response if he did this): | And you know who Kevin Rudd is (although I am trying to imagine the response if he did this): |