Today's been a horrific day, weather-wise, in New South Wales with very hot, gale force winds fanning the flames of bush fires all around Sydney. The urban areas around the south-west and close to Bethel, as well as the area near Wollongong to the south have been affected, which means the fires are breaking out deep in the metropolitan area.
Here's the evening news:
| 21:40 AEST Wed 4 Dec 2002 | |
| Simultaneous fires erupt around Sydney Scores of bushfires erupted simultaneously in a ring around Sydney on Wednesday afternoon, filling the sky with thick black smoke and creating havoc on the ground. It took just an hour for 60 fires to grip the city, stretching resources to the limit, injuring at least four people and destroying up to 17 homes. Residents were forced to form human water chains and ferry buckets as they battled to protect homes from the onslaught of flames. Two giant helitankers, 67 other waterbombing aircraft and hundreds of fire trucks deployed to the fire front but homes were lost, a fire engine destroyed, people injured and traffic brought to a standstill. The main natural cause of fires is lightning strikes. But none were reported in metropolitan Sydney, pointing to discarded cigarette butts or arson as the likely cause. Authorities refused to speculate, saying their priority was dousing the flames and protecting homes in the drought-ravaged outer suburbs. The Rural Fire Service (RFS) confirmed up to 15 houses were destroyed in Glenorie north of Sydney and two at Alfords Point in the Sutherland Shire. There were other unconfirmed property losses at Wattle Grove and Sandy Point. Several abandoned buildings were destroyed at the Holsworthy Army Barracks and firefighters were unable to dump water because of explosive devices on site. Three firefighters were injured, two suffering fractured legs and one was burnt as fire engulfed his tanker. A 21-year-old man suffered burns to his face and hands trying to protect his home at Glenorie. Hundreds were forced to evacuate from Wattle Grove, Moorebank, Holsworthy and Alfords Point, spending the night at clubs and sporting halls. "We've had multiple injuries from burns to both fire crew and some residents as a result of the fires burning to the north," Rural Fire Services Commissioner Phil Koperberg said. There was little relief in sight with temperatures forecast in the mid-30s tomorrow and blustery winds expected to keep firefighters in protection mode throughout the night. Bushfire emergencies were declared in Sutherland, Campbelltown, Hornsby and Baulkham Hills, with more areas likely to be added to the list. The blazes were burning under high voltage transmission lines causing "dips" in the system but no power outages. But the result was chaos with commuters suffering lengthy train delays, office computers and lights flicking throughout the afternoon and 4,000 western Sydney residents left without phone lines. Outside Sydney, fires were burning north of Shoalhaven Heads, in the Hunter Valley, near Gosford and Grafton. To compound problems, storms with 100kph winds and torrential rain hit the Hunter area and towns further north including Taree and Scone, with up to 10 homes severely damaged. Wattle Grove resident Greg Young described the mateship as neighbours banded together to help each other. | |
Cheers, Ozzie
Edited by - ozziepost on 4 December 2002 6:43:3