Bushfires threaten coastal towns

FIREFIGHTERS across NSW remained on edge late yesterday as several bushfires burned out of control in the state’s north.

Authorities issued an emergency warning for a fire burning across almost 7000 hectares at Shark Creek.

The fire is burning in the Yuraygir National Park northeast of Grafton, with crews backburning near properties in Angourie.

“There is fire burning to the north and south of Angourie and Wooloweyah. The fire is impacting on the southern side of the villages,” an RFS spokesperson said at 4pm. “A southerly change is forecast and this may push the fire towards Yamba.”

Firefighters spent the weekend battling dozens of intense north NSW blazes, with watch and act alerts remaining in place for a fire at Drake near Tenterfield and another at Bees Nest near Armidale. The Bees Nest fire has razed 63,000 hectares — twice the size of the Sydney city council area — while the fire at Drake has burnt almost 33,000 hectares.

More than 50 fires were burning across the state yesterday. The RFS confirmed four homes had been destroyed in Drake, along with one Tenterfield home. A Lidsdale home and four Tenterfield homes were damaged, while 22 outbuildings, two car yards and a pistol club were razed.

Meanwhile, in Queensland, some people have been allowed to return home in the bushfireravaged Gold Coast hinterland but the area’s bushfire crisis is not over.

Unpredictable winds created challenging conditions for firefighters in the once-lush Lamington National Park yesterday.

Winds grounded aircraft for periods yesterday as emergency crews urged people to immediately leave O’Reilly, another rainforest area in the path of fires. Not everyone got out and about 100 people were sheltering at O’Reilly’s Guest House, at Canungra, last night.