Massive fire burns from Lithgow to central coast in New South Wales as Western Australia emergency continues

This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

Residents in the path of the blaze in the Wollemi national park, north-west of Sydney, have been told it’s too late to leave on Sunday evening as the fire pushes closer to their homes.

An emergency warning was issued for the Gospers Mountain blaze, which was almost 370,000 hectares in size, on Sunday afternoon.

The NSW Rural Fire Service said the fire had crossed Bowen Creek, south of Mount Wilson. The blaze was moving towards Mount Wilson, Mount Irvine, Mount Tomah and Berambing and winds were creating spot fires ahead of the main fire front. The agency also advised that winds were creating spot fires ahead of the main fire front.

Residents were warned that fire activity in these areas was increasing.

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“It is too late to leave. Seek shelter as the fire approaches. Protect yourself from the heat of the fire,” the RFS said in a statement on Sunday afternoon.

“This large fire stretches from the Lithgow area in the west, through the Hawkesbury area and towards the central coast in the east,” it said.

“With many areas of the state under a very high fire danger today, discuss with your family what you would do if fire threatens.”

Total fire bans were in place for the central ranges, northern slopes and north-western areas amid very high fire danger ratings and with bushfire smoke affecting the Sydney basin.

“We will see conditions deteriorate with worsening weather early into mid-next week. We’re going to be seeing a lot more higher temperatures across the state,” Greg Allan from the RFS said.

Places such as Cobar, Broken Hill and Griffith are forecast to see temperatures above 40C in the coming week, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Some 724 homes, 49 facilities and 1,582 outbuildings had been destroyed so far this fire season. Six people have died and 2.7 million hectares have been scorched.

In Western Australia on Sunday, thousands of properties were saved from a bushfire raging out of control north of Perth but authorities said the threat was not over.

By the afternoon the Yanchep blaze remained at an emergency warning after firefighters protected about 6,000 homes from the near-12,000 hectare blaze burning since Wednesday.

One house and a Yanchep service station were confirmed to have been lost.

“If you look at where the fires have gone, it is absolutely astonishing that we haven’t lost more than one house,” the emergency services minister Fran Logan told reporters.

But communities were warned to remain vigilant, with Perth and the fire area forecast to reach 40C for the third day running.

A watch-and-act warning covered parts of Yanchep, Two Rocks, Breton Bay, Seabird, Gabbadah, Wanerie, Ledge Point and Eglinton.

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Evacuation centres have been set up at the Gumblossom Community Centre at Quinns Rocks and the Granville Civic Centre at Gingin, where community meetings were scheduled.

Nearly 260 Two Rocks households had lost power and it was unclear when it would be safe to repair the network. Crews were working to restore power to 12 homes at Yanchep.

There had been concerns water supplies to some fire-affected areas could be cut off but this had not eventuated.

However, internet and mobile phone services had been disrupted at Two Rocks and Yanchep.

The Yanchep national Park, Wilbinga conservation park and adjacent state forest remain closed.

Another emergency warning remained in place for a separate blaze at Yourdamung Lake, north-east of Bunbury.

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It covered an area bounded by Baroda Road to the north, Norm Road to the south, Collie-Tallanalla Road to the west and Collie-Williams Road to the east.

A watch and act was also in place for the same fire, between Norm Road in the north, Hull Road, Booth Street and Lintoft Road to the south, Harris River Road to the west and Collie-Williams Road to the east.