Category Archives: Bushfires

Australia fires: helicopter crashes as 140 bushfires rage in NSW and Queensland – live

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RFS says Gospers Mountain blaze, which has merged with neighbouring fires, will take many weeks to put out

A shipping container full of fireworks? Really?

This is from AAP:

A shipping container loaded with fireworks has exploded and residents have been warned to flee as an unpredictable fire closes in on homes in south-east Queensland.

The fast-moving blaze is burning in bushland at Bundamba, west of Brisbane, and travelling in a northerly direction from White Street towards the Warrego highway.

This, I fear, will be the trend for the afternoon. Across the east coast of Australia, fires worsening with strengthening winds, no respite in temperatures.

Watch & Act - Blue Gum Road (Tenterfield LGA)
Fire is burning SW of Urbenville. Spot fires are starting ahead of the main fire front. If you are in the Wallaby Creek area, seek shelter as the fire approaches. Protect yourself from the heat of the fire. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/Fw0wlqMgOE

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NSW fires: five bushfires merge north of Sydney – as it happened

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Gospers Mountain, Paddock Run and Little L Complex, Three Mile and Thompson Creek fires overlap, and there are now seven emergency warnings in NSW as fire conditions worsen along Australia’s New South Wales and Queensland coasts. This blog is now closed

We are going to wrap the live blog up here. As of almost 7.30pm AEDT there are still seven fires at emergency warning level across NSW.

They are:

Related: Australia fires: five blazes merge north of Sydney as conditions forecast to worsen

Some more photos from photographer Matthew Abbott out at Kulnura:

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Australia fires: five blazes merge north of Sydney as conditions forecast to worsen

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More than 100 bushfires were burning in New South Wales on Friday, more than half of them out of control

Five fires burning to the north of Sydney joined up into one huge conflagration on Friday, with out-of-control blazes threatening homes and lives.

On a day that brought choking smog to Sydney, the premier of New South Wales said the entire coastline of the state was on fire.

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Revealed: ‘monumental’ NSW bushfires have burnt 20% of Blue Mountains world heritage area

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More than 10% of forest in NSW national parks destroyed by fire this season, with the damage to Gondwana rainforest a ‘global tragedy’

More than 10% of the area covered by New South Wales national parks has been burned in this season’s bushfires, including 20% of the Blue Mountains world heritage area, state government data obtained by Guardian Australia has revealed.

The amount of bushland destroyed within NSW national parks dwarfs that of the entire previous fire season, when 80,000 hectares were lost.

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Total fire bans in six NSW regions as 146 blazes burn across the state

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Greater Hunter, greater Sydney, Illawarra/Shoalhaven, central ranges, northern slopes and north-western regions have ‘severe’ or ‘very high’ danger

Total fire bans were in place for the greater Hunter – which is facing severe fire danger – greater Sydney, Illawarra/Shoalhaven, central ranges, northern slopes and north-western regions.

These regions and the far south coast, southern ranges and New England, as well as the ACT, had very high fire danger.

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More than 60 fires burn across New South Wales as $48m relief package announced

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The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, and the federal emergency management minister, David Littleproud, join forces to help fire victims

Weather has hampered firefighting efforts as the New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, announced $48m has been set aside for bushfire recovery, after blazes devastated some communities.

The community recovery package – a joint federal and state government initiative – was announced on Sunday morning and includes grants of up to $15,000 to help small businesses and farmers.

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Australia fires: record-breaking temperatures fuel bushfires across the country

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Temperatures top 40C in Victoria’s north as up to 11 properties hit by fire in South Australia, while NSW and Tasmania face difficult conditions

Record-breaking spring temperatures helped spark and fan bushfires across the country on Thursday, forecasting a potentially devastating bushfire summer.

In Victoria, 100km/h winds fanned more than 60 blazes, as an unprecedented heatwave moved north to south, drawing comparisons with the “worst conditions you’d see in February or March” from the state’s emergency services minister Lisa Neville.

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Australia fires: All mainland states top 40C as bushfire code red issued in Victoria

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Extreme heat hits across the country as parts of Victoria prepare for worst possible bushfire conditions on Thursday

All of Australia’s mainland states, and the Northern Territory, had areas that reached more than 40C on Wednesday, as a code red bushfire warning was issued for parts of Victoria for Thursday.

By 3pm AEDT on Wednesday, the highest temperatures recorded were 43.4C at Smithville in New South Wales and 42C at Walpepup in Victoria. Ballera in Queensland reached 43.7C, Warburton in WA got 43.8C, Nullarbor in South Australia recorded 46.6C and Lajamanu in the Northern Territory had hit 42.7C.

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Sydney smoke: city covered in thick haze as more than 50 bushfires burn across NSW

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People with asthma or respiratory illness should stay inside, health authorities warn

Sydney woke up to a thick blanket of smoke over the city on Tuesday as New South Wales headed into the first of two “tough days” this week, with temperatures likely to rise to the 40s and little-to-no rainfall forecast.

Most of the state’s east coast was under severe or very high fire danger ratings, with more than 50 bushfires burning, of which 28 remained uncontained.

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Scott Morrison condemns Israel Folau for linking bushfires to same-sex marriage and abortion

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Former Wallabies player’s comments in sermon follow controversy over his sacking for social media posts

Scott Morrison has labelled comments by sacked rugby union star Israel Folau linking devastating bushfires to Australia passing laws to legalise abortion and same-sex marriage “appallingly insensitive”.

Although both the prime minister and the Labor leader Anthony Albanese defended Folau’s right to express the view, condemnation on Monday was swift and bipartisan.

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Greens MP Adam Bandt defends senator who called major party politicians ‘arsonists’

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Deputy leader says he does not regret linking the government’s climate change policy to the bushfires

The Greens MP Adam Bandt has defended his party colleague labelling politicians from the major parties “arsonists” while bushfires swept through swathes of New South Wales and Queensland last week.

Bandt noted that the Greens senator Jordon Steele-John was among the generation of young people “terrified” about the impact of climate change, and said the point of the remarks was to highlight Australia’s inaction on reducing fossil fuel emissions.

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Australian bushfires: firefighters struggle to contain Hawkesbury blaze as catastrophic conditions forecast in WA

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Severe isolated thunderstorms forecast in Queensland, which could create dry lightning strikes that start more fires

Forty-degree heat and catastrophic conditions in Western Australia and lightning strikes in Queensland could intensify fires over the weekend as Australia enters its second week of sustained bushfires.

As of Saturday morning, conditions in New South Wales had eased slightly but the NSW Rural Fire Service said an uncontrolled bushfire burning through more than 100,000 hectares near Sydney’s northwestern outskirts was unlikely to be contained before weather conditions worsen.

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NSW and Qld fires: emergency bushfires warning for Hawkesbury on Sydney’s fringe

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Fire danger rating in parts of NSW rises to severe as hot, dry, windy conditions end a brief reprieve of bushfire-hit areas of Australia

• If you are in a bushfire affected area stay tuned to your local emergency broadcaster. Full alerts can be found here for NSW and here for Queensland

A fresh emergency warning was issued for the Hawkesbury on Sydney’s outskirts on Friday for a fast-moving fire, as hot, dry and windy conditions returned to bushfire-hit areas of New South Wales.

The warning was issued for a persistent 80,000-hectare blaze at Gospers Mountain, which was burning in the direction of Colo Heights. Those in the town should leave immediately towards Wilberforce, the Rural Fire Service warned.

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NSW and Queensland fires updates: worst of bushfires season ‘still ahead’, says fire chief – live

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Catastrophic fire conditions in New South Wales ease, but dozens of Australian bushfires remain burning. In Queensland, 60 fires are burning, with strong winds and temperatures in mid-30s forecast to make for hazardous conditions on Australia’s east coast

• Factcheck: are greens really stopping bushfire hazard reduction?

• Open thread: tell us how you’re affected by the fires
• Sydney suburb in the pink after surviving bushfire emergency
• If you are in a bushfire affected area stay tuned to your local emergency broadcaster. Full alerts can be found here for NSW and here for Queensland

Residents of Pechey (near Hampton) have been told to leave now, and head towards the New England highway.

“There is a bushfire in Pechey and Hampton and conditions are getting worse,” QFES says. “A fast moving fire is travelling from Grapetree Road towards Deeth Road, Sewell Road, Parker Road, Bush Road and Misty Mountain Road. It is currently impacting Parker Road and Sewell Road. The fire could have on the significant impact on the community.”

LEAVE NOW: Pechey (near Hampton) bushfire as at 1pm Wed 13 Nov: https://t.co/ZLMRe45vEu

Images of Walkers Point, which is also at “leave now”.

Residents at Walkers Point, south of Bundaberg, are being told to evacuate to Woodgate with firefighters battling a large bushfire @abcnews pic.twitter.com/pffLy1elsV

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NSW public servants at climate conference told not to discuss link with bushfires

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Exclusive: email from government directs attendees at conference on climate adaptation to stay quiet on bushfire-climate link

As bushfire conditions were declared “catastrophic” on Tuesday, New South Wales bureaucrats attending a conference on adaption to climate change were directed not discuss the link between climate change and bushfires.

Bureaucrats from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment were sent an email soon after the AdaptNSW 2019 Forum began, causing consternation among some attendees who saw it as tantamount to gagging them.

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NSW and Qld fires: 300 new fires across NSW today and a dozen homes damaged – live

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Rural Fire Service says a firefighter has been injured in Sydney as New South Wales faces catastrophic fire conditions across greater Sydney, Hunter and Illawarra/Shoalhaven with strong winds and high temperatures. Dozens of bushfires continue to burn across Queensland and Australia’s east coast

• Catastrophic fire danger: what does it mean?
• Open thread: tell us how you’re affected by the fires
• If you are in a bushfire affected area stay tuned to your local emergency broadcaster. Full alerts can be found here for NSW and here for Queensland

I take that back, the latest update has moved it back up to nine emergency alert level fires:

In the latest update from the RFS, they’ve downgraded six of the fires, meaning there are now four emergency alert level fires.

Those are:

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Australia fires: nation braces for ‘most dangerous bushfire week ever seen’

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New South Wales faces an unprecedented fire danger on Tuesday amid high temperatures and strong winds

Fire chiefs in Australia have warned of “the most dangerous bushfire week this nation has ever seen”, saying New South Wales – the country’s most populous state – faces an unprecedented “catastrophic” fire day on Tuesday

Sixty fires are currently burning in across the state, 40 of which are running out of control. There are also nearly 50 fires burning in Queensland, and fires in Western Australia and South Australia.

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More than 60 fires threaten NSW and 45 burn in Queensland – as it happened

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More than 575 NSW schools to close as conditions forecast to worsen on Tuesday, while dozens of bushfires continue to burn across Australia’s east coast. This blog is now closed

This is where we’ll leave our rolling coverage today. Guardian Australia will be covering all the developments tomorrow. Here’s what’s happened so far:

ABC Weather has published an explanation of why Tuesday is looking so bad: it’s a cold front.

“Tomorrow with the winds you’ll be seeing a more south-easterly direction,” Grace Legge, senior forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, told the ABC.

Why a cold front signals disaster for fire danger https://t.co/NOr4mZ54B3 via @ABCNews pic.twitter.com/3ZrwsfqZeg

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NSW and Queensland fires: Sydney to face catastrophic fire danger for first time

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More than 130 bushfires continue to burn, with three people dead and 150 properties destroyed, and conditions set to worsen

The greater Sydney region will face catastrophic fire danger on Tuesday for the first time since the rating was introduced and fire authorities say conditions in other parts of New South Wales could also be set to worsen.

The warning was issued as more than 80 fires continued to burn in the north of the state late on Sunday.

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NSW and Queensland bushfires: fears death toll will rise as blazes continue to rage

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Three people dead, seven or more missing and more than 150 homes destroyed
• Bushfires blaze across Australia’s east coast – in pictures
• Braving the blazes: footage of bushfires ravaging coast

Three people have been killed and there were fears for another seven still missing after uncontrolled bushfires destroyed more than 150 homes over thousands of hectares of eastern Australia.

At a fire in the Kangawalla area, near Glen Innes on the New South Wales north coast, a body was found in a burnt-out car by a volunteer firefighter.

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