TURNBULL VISITS BEGA EVACUATION CENTRE

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited an evacuation centre yesterday to comfort residents evacuated from the NSW south coast town of Tathra where almost 100 homes, cabins and caravans were destroyed by bushfire late Sunday.

Four people were treated for smoke inhalation and one firefighter was injured as fire swept through Tathra, 450km south of Sydney, forcing the evacuation of locals to the nearby town of Bega.

“This has been a shocking destruction of property,” Mr Turnbull said.

“Thank heaven there have been no lives lost. But that’s a great tribute to the community, to the firefighters, to all of that preparation and resilience.”

The NSW Rural Fire Service said it did all in its power to inform residents on the state’s south coast of the approaching bushfire but said people should also seek information themselves.

RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the organisation used “a combination of SMS alerts and also telephoning alert system to landlines in people’s homes”.

“We use the available technologies to us to seek, warn and advise communities that might be in harm’s way,” he said. “Every fire season, every disaster, people should not be relying on single tools and products to be aware of what is going on around them.”

The commissioner said the main fire on Sunday spread in an elongated fashion “straight towards the ocean”.

“If the fire was a few hundred metres further north or a few hundred metres further south it would have likely gone right past Tathra,” he said.

“But sadly the direction the winds blew this fire put it right into the centre of the township.”