SYDNEY BUSHFIRE MAY BE ARSON
No lives lost, no property damaged despite large fire
HUNDREDS of firefighters were yesterday battling a large bushfire that was raging near suburbs here, with authorities saying it was “miraculous” no houses had been damaged and no one had been injured.
New South Wales (NSW) state police are investigating the cause of the bushfire in south-western Sydney, which started on Saturday afternoon amid unseasonably warm autumn weather and strong winds, with suspicions it was deliberately lit.
The blaze has burnt through more than 2,430ha, with some locals evacuated from their homes.
Despite the fire’s size and its proximity to several suburbs, no properties were known to be lost, the NSW Rural Fire Service said.
“It is absolutely miraculous that we have not lost any lives and virtually no property, and this is because of the hard work and dedication and heroism of our fire services,” the state’s acting Emergency Services Minister Mark Speakman said yesterday.
NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the only damage reports were of fences and a children’s playhouse.
Conditions improved yesterday as winds eased, with firefighters working to slow the spread of flames. They conducted controlled burns overnight to clear land that could be combustible.
Fitzsimmons said it would be “sickening and reprehensible” if the fire was arson.