Firefighters watch the skies
A 71-year-old New South Wales man has been charged with lighting a fire without a permit at his property that became the Araluen Rd blaze, which is now more than 100 hectares in size.
Emergency services were called to an Araluen Rd property in the Deua River Valley, 300 kilometres south of Sydney, about noon on Thursday following reports of a fire.
Police have now charged the property owner with lighting a fire without a permit for the purpose of land clearing or creating a firebreak, and with permitting the fire to escape his land and cause damage. Permits for open fires are required during the bushfire danger period from October 1 to March 31.
The man has been granted bail and is due to appear in court on January 10.
The fire spread to the nearby Wandera State Forest, where it continues to burn. The area’s steep terrain means the blaze is not easily accessible for ground crews.
Firefighters fear it could link up with the Currowan fire to the north, which is more than 214,000ha in size. It was upgraded to ‘‘watch and act’’ alert level yesterday afternoon as fire activity increased south of the Kings Highway.
Rural Fire Service (RFS) spokesman James Morris said the Araluen Rd fire was within containment lines but still had the potential to grow.
‘‘We are using heavy machinery to be able to strengthen those containment lines around the fire. It is in the middle of nowhere and quite small, but if we get a big southerly, there’s a chance it could spread north and meet the Currowan fire.’’
About 1300 firefighters spent most of Friday and Saturday backburning and strengthening containment lines ahead of worsening weather conditions that are forecast until Tuesday, the day of greatest concern to the RFS.
There were 82 blazes burning across the state yesterday, half of which are yet to be contained. A ‘‘very high’’ fire danger warning is in place for much of the east coast.
Temperatures on the east coast are expected to soar as a heatwave makes its way to Australia’s southeast. Sydney’s temperatures are forecast to climb to 35 degrees C on
Tuesday, while smoke haze and temperatures in the low 40s are forecast for the city’s west.
‘‘There will be widespread severe and extreme fire danger in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven, so a number of total fire bans are likely through those areas on Tuesday,’’ Morris said.
‘‘All fires are continuing to burn, a lot of them in remote and rugged terrain. Our main focus is monitoring them and trying to deepen those containment lines.’’
The bushfire danger is ramping back up across NSW, with higher temperatures prompting total fire bans in the southern ranges, southern slopes and Monaro alpine areas yesterday. The Bureau of Meteorology expects the fire danger to continue escalating into next week, with increasing heat and dry winds.
The rising temperatures come after firefighters spent the past five days striving to contain large and complex bushfires before conditions worsen.
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said firefighters had completed challenging work in areas such as the Blue Mountains and south coast, backburning and establishing containment lines with hand tools and machinery.
A code red was issued in South Australia on Friday as temperatures hit 42C in Adelaide.
South Australia last week had 86 homes destroyed after wildfires flared in catastrophic conditions, as the state capital endured a heatwave peaking at a sizzling 46C. The oppressive conditions are set to continue until tomorrow.
The heatwave has prompted the South Australian government to declare a code red, an extreme heat watch issued to reduce the harmful effects on the homeless. Services include shelter options and additional food services.
About 5 million ha of land have burned nationwide over the past few months, with nine people killed and more than 950 homes destroyed. NSW has borne the brunt of the damage, with around 850 homes razed.
Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said Prime Minister Scott Morrison had held discussions with state premiers over how to financially support volunteer firefighters.