NSW: Firefighters battle to save homes overnight

AAP General News (Australia)
12-26-2001
NSW: Firefighters battle to save homes overnight

SYDNEY, Dec 26 AAP - Firefighters were tonight battling to stop a major blaze from
destroying homes in Sydney's north-west as the state's bushfire crisis worsened.

Residents in the outer suburbs of Baulkham Hills shire were being urged to protect
their properties or evacuate as westerly winds fanned the blaze across a river and into
bushland backing onto homes.

NSW Fire Brigades spokesman Inspector Bob Murray said the firefighters would take advantage
of cooling conditions overnight to try to contain the blaze.

"The fire came from the Blue Mountains area, jumped the Nepean River and is currently
heading in a north-east direction," he said.

"We have a lot of resources on that fire and the focus overnight will be to try to
contain in the cooling weather conditions."

Residents in some areas of the Sydney shire of Sutherland were also on evacuation standby
although dropping temperatures were easing conditions.

The 10km fire front was still on course to cut a path through West Heathcote and South
Engadine, the Rural Fire Service (RFS) said.

The Royal National Park townships of Bundeena and Maianbar were also in the line of
the fire, it said.

RFS incident controller Superintendent Stuart Midgley said the predicted 65km per hour
winds had not eventuated.

"And the change in wind direction from south-west to north-west is causing the fire
to burn back on itself periodically as well," Supt Midgley said.

Residents of South Engadine are also on standby for evacuation.

Sutherland Shire residents who were evacuated overnight have been allowed to return
home although power remains cut to houses in Waterfall.

The F6 remains closed to all but local residents.

Hot westerly winds wreaked havoc for firefighters across the state today, fanning more
than 100 blazes and forcing emergency crews to evacuate over 100 residents.

Cooler conditions overnight were expected to moderate bushfires blazing across NSW,
the Bureau of Meteorology said.

The drop in temperature will give some reprieve to the more than 4,000 firefighters
battling about 100 blazes across NSW.

Bureau spokesman John Colquhoun said it was relatively cool on the south coast.

However, strong winds of up to 40kph from the south-west were continuing to keep many
fires active, he said.

South-easterly winds along the south coast were moderating conditions around Nowra
while a southerly change moving up the NSW south coast was expected to bring some relief
in the Sydney area, he said.

"The strongish winds initially will cause some problems with the fires, but as the
moister air gets in behind the change, that will have a moderating effect," Mr Colquhoun
said.

"Tomorrow looks like a better day than today, but there's still no rain in sight at
least for the next two days," Mr Colquhoun said.

Authorities estimated well over 120 properties to have been destroyed with the figure
expected to rise overnight.

About 12,000 homes remained without power and some woke to no running water because
power outages had affected water pumps.

Health authorities today issued warnings to residents in southern Sydney to boil their
water with power failures stopping water filtration systems.

Suburbs where water quality had been affected included Helensburgh, Otford, Stanwell
Tops, Stanwell Park and Colecliff, said acting NSW chief health officer Greg Stewart.

"Based on the advice available at this time the need to boil water may last about three
days," he said.

Power was not expected to be restored to south coast and western Sydney residents until
at least tomorrow.

Prime Minister John Howard who toured some of the worst-affected regions in Sydney's
west pledged military resources to the firefighting campaign.

"Any resources that are needed from the federal government in relation to the defence
forces automatically become available," Mr Howard said.

"This is a total community effort and we will make whatever resources available to
assist NSW authorities."

Sydney was once again blanketed by haze from the fires, prompting warnings to people
with breathing difficulties.

Ambulance crews estimated they had treated hundreds of firefighters and residents for
smoke inhalation and breathing difficulties.

NSW RFS Commissioner Phil Koperberg compared the Christmas bushfires to the devastating
blazes of 1994 when four lives were lost and 185 homes destroyed around Sydney.

"The geographic spread is not as extreme ... but in terms of fire behaviour, there
are a number of examples which suggest that the fire intensity is far greater."

Australia's oldest national park, the Royal National Park in Sydney's south, would
be consumed by fire within a day or so and already 100,000 hectares of national parkland
across the state had been destroyed.

Parks and remote walking tracks will remain closed until further notice.

AAP ls/ph/br

KEYWORD: BUSHFIRES NSW 2ND NIGHTLEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)

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