{"id":60862,"date":"2018-03-19T06:15:52","date_gmt":"2018-03-19T06:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=60862"},"modified":"2018-03-19T06:20:14","modified_gmt":"2018-03-19T06:20:14","slug":"nsw-rural-fire-service-says-it-did-all-it-could-to-alert-tathra-of-blaze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/nsw-rural-fire-service-says-it-did-all-it-could-to-alert-tathra-of-blaze.html","title":{"rendered":"Emergency services said they were unaware of anyone unaccounted for"},"content":{"rendered":"

NSW Rural Fire Service says it did all it could to alert Tathra of blaze<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

More than 100 homes on the NSW far south coast have been damaged or destroyed in updated figures released by the NSW Rural Fire Service.<\/span><\/p>\n

The RFS shared on social media that, according to a damage assessment, 69 houses have been destroyed and 39 have been damaged. Another 30 caravans and cabins were destroyed.<\/span><\/p>\n

The NSW RFS said 398 houses were saved or not affected.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c NSW RFS Building Impact Assessment teams have assessed approximately 90 percent of the fireground,\u201d the organisation said in a media statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of properties may change as these assessments are completed. Schools in the area have not been impacted by the fire.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cInformation about specific homes which have been impacted is being provided to residents through the evacuation centre at Bega. Access to homes is being provided to residents as it is safe to do so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

RFS \u2018did all we could\u2019 to alert<\/span><\/p>\n

The NSW Rural Fire Service says it did all in its power to inform residents on the state\u2019s south coast of the approaching bushfire that ultimately damaged or destroyed more than 70 properties around Tathra, but said people should also seek information themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the organisation used \u201ca combination of SMS alerts and also telephoning alert system to landlines in people\u2019s homes\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe use the available technologies to us to seek, warn and advise communities that might be in harm\u2019s way. 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,\u201d Commissioner Fitzsimmons said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a day of heightened activity and risks and which is why those areas were in severe warning. Everyone needs to be vigilant and monitor the conditions and we will use whatever tool we have available to get messages out to the communities. We update our website, and where we can we seek to engage tools like emergency alert and get messages out via mobile phones and landlines into people \u2018s homes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Commissioner Fitzsimmons said there are still 19 fires across the state, 12 of which are uncontained.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is still a fair bit of work to do before we can call this fire contained,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have fire which has been on the western side of the river, where it started. It sparked across to the eastern side of the river, to the south. Crews are trying hard to establish strategies to bring the fire under control.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Those defending properties are believed to have saved more than 100, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of saved properties, with the efforts of people in town, was something like 150 at least… Whether it is 30 homes or 70 homes or some other number, this is still a very awful situation which will have a big impact on the community of Tathra. You cannot lose that sort of property and not have an impact and influence on the make-up of the community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Two volunteer firefighters were treated for heat stress, and a woman in her 40s was treated for respiratory issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

The NSW government has announced it will appoint former chief of the Victorian Country Fire Authority, Euan Ferguson, to coordinate support to communities hit by the devastating fires .<\/span><\/p>\n

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian this afternoon announced that Mr Ferguson, who managed the recovery from floods in the Northern Rivers area last year, will be appointed coordinator general.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank all the volunteers and the emergency services personnel for their professionalism, and for the local residents, who have handed together, many people went to help others, not knowing whether their own homes were safe or not,\u201d Ms Berejiklian said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Transport Minister Andrew Constance, who is the local member for Bega, said the state government, council, and emergency services will work to clean up the devastation \u201cas quickly as possible\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a resilient community. We are not out of this emergency. That is the key point,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are very patiently waiting to get out all clear, to go back to Tathra and find out what has happened. My message to them, as their representative in Parliament, is that we are going to stand by you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tathra \u2018a ghost town\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

The NSW beachside town of Tathra is akin to a ghost town with residents still being blocked from the area after yesterday\u2019s fire.<\/span><\/p>\n

Streets close to the beach of the NSW south coast town have been virtually untouched by fires, with the affected areas being up the town\u2019s hill close to the forest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dozens of homes close to the forest have been ruined including on the streets of Ocean View Terrace, Francis Holland Drive and Bayview Drive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two men in their 20s were this morning the only residents seen viewing the devastation of their house which burnt to the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

They were visibly upset and shaken as they surveyed the ruins of the property.<\/span><\/p>\n

Small fires remained in the town this morning although they were mostly contained. Several firetrucks rushed to the badly impacted Thompson Street after 9.30am when there were reports a fire had reignited.<\/span><\/p>\n

The NSW Rural Fire Service has asked for help from an air tanker fire-fighting plane as sections of a bushfire on the NSW south coast flare up in winds.<\/span><\/p>\n

NSW Rural Fire Service Incident Controller Superintendent Mark Williams said there are \u201cunburnt pockets\u201d of bushland that mean they are taking extra precautions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAn air tanker has been requested to contain the fire in the section north of the Bega river,\u201d he said in a statement shared on the Tathra RFS Facebook page.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a dynamic and live fire situation, still threatening to impact unburnt pockets. We cannot allow people back into Tathra, we acknowledge that there are still residents in Tathra who were unable to evacuate, and we are working to keep them safe as we work around them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany homes have been saved by fire fighters, and we are working to get people back into Tathra, this needs to be done in a coordinated fashion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Local man Jimmy Eiuera said it was a traumatic time for the community of about 3000 people<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe bloody smoke \u2014 it just went straight through the forest,\u201d Mr Eiuera said outside a neighbour\u2019s home that had burnt to the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese two houses were up in smoke and there was nothing I could do. It was just too hot. We just had to stand and watch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Eiuera said he was hosing his property down with water while watching other homes around him disintegrate.<\/span><\/p>\n

His wife evacuated to the beach but he stayed to protect the house.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so shocking,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the first time this has happened here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Residents in the suburb of Kalaru, west of Tathra, are being evacuated as the wind change today shifted the direction of the blaze towards them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joshua Shoobridge, a Kalaru resident, said while they were told to leave yesterday, the direction of the wind meant they were given the all clear to return home. Around midday, that changed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were told that the fire was following the gully and the river,\u201d Mr Shoobridge said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother-in-law lives on Lake Cohen Drive. They were told to evacuate, they had 30 minutes to get out. That was about 20 minutes ago. We had dinner at her place, the fire was going the other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The fire started to his northwest, in the Reedy Swamp area, and yesterday was heading east. Within 30 minutes, the strong winds had pushed it directly north of his home on Black Fellows Lake Road.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tathra blaze \u2018remains dangerous\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

NSW RFS spokesman Matthew Reeves has told residents who were evacuated to Bega\u2019s showgrounds, while the fire is not expected to grow in size, the blaze \u201cremains dangerous\u201d and could flare up in unburnt pockets of bushland.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe bushfire started northwest of Tathra near Reedy Swamp Road yesterday, and it continues to burn. This morning, there was an unknown number of properties which were damaged or destroyed. At least 70 properties have been destroyed,\u201d he told evacuees.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fire has burned around 1050 ha of bushland. Overnight our crews have continued to work on the fireground, they had the benefit of a south-easterly wind last night, it\u2019s a cooler, more moist breeze.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Reeves said last night was risky for volunteers, who had to dodge falling trees and power lines.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving gone out and traversed the fire ground, I can assure you our crews were working in no less than highly dangerous conditions last night,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou only had to drive into some areas to see telegraph pole after telegraph pole burning at the base, fallen power lines, fallen telegraph poles and fallen trees that continued to fall around us whilst we were starting our assessment on the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is part of the reason we cannot let you back into Tathra just yet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fires \u2018still dangerous, dynamic\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Easing weather conditions have boosted firefighting efforts on the NSW south coast where at least 70 buildings have either been destroyed or damaged, but the state\u2019s Rural Fire Service chief said the situation remains \u201cdangerous and dynamic\u201d and the main fire front is still out of control.<\/span><\/p>\n

NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said there are 24 fires burning across the state, but most resources are focused on the area around Tathra.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s far from being under control at this stage. Not only have we got that 1000ha of fire still with lots of burning, very active edge, that needs to be contained and consolidated,\u201d he told Channel Seven, \u201cbut we\u2019ve still got this awful situation throughout the community in Tathra where we\u2019ve got damaged buildings, damaged homes and other infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur overnight assessment, our early indications are, that the number of buildings impacted damaged and destroyed is likely to climb above 70, but we\u2019ll confirm that. this morning we\u2019ve got 24 fires burning across NSW as a result of yesterday\u2019s weather and conditions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Fitzsimmons said a damaged telecommunications tower has \u201cadded to the anxiety\u201d of the fire, and crews are working to restore all utilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cClearly some of the key infrastructure is the key focus today,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe focus is to get utilities working, sewerage, water, and of course power and the telecommunications systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe pleasing thing out of all of this, without being insensitive, is that we\u2019re still not looking for unaccounted-for people and that everyone is alive and well. We did have one woman to the west of Tathra hospitalised with burn injuries and inhalation of hot air. She had hair singed and respiratory issues but the reports are she is doing okay. The focus today is trying to secure the township. It\u2019s still a fairly dangerous and dynamic situation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Scores of homes razed<\/span><\/p>\n

The threat from the firestorm that ripped through the NSW south coast has been downgraded after a southerly wind change helped ease conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it is believed that at least 70 buildings, including 35 homes, were razed in the \u201chellish\u201d wild fires. Residents were left traumatised by the speed of the flames which took barely half an hour to cross the Bega River and hit the Tathra area. \u201cIt\u2019s horrible but it could have been a lot, lot worse,\u201d one resident told Nine Network this morning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bega Valley mayor Kristy McBain said about 35 properties had been damaged or destroyed and the town\u2019s roads, water system and sewage treatment plant were also damaged.<\/span><\/p>\n

Communication were affected after a mobile phone tower collapsed, making it difficult to determine how many people remained in the town. \u201cThere are no reports of any loss of life, so it will be very much about trying to track these people down,\u201d Ms McBain said.<\/span><\/p>\n

A cool change has also eased concerns in Victoria where up to 18 homes are believed to have been lost in bushfires across the state\u2019s southwest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s emergency management commissioner Craig Lapsley said the main concerns are fires at Cobden and Penshurst, where watch and act alerts remain active.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting on top of the fires. The winds are down. The day\u2019s a milder day. The temperature backed off. Today will be a good day in that sense,\u201d Mr Lapsley told Nine Network on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

About 1700 properties remain without power and Mr Lapsley warned those affected might have to make do for a bit longer because power poles and other infrastructure has been damaged.<\/span><\/p>\n

Homes lost in \u2018hellish\u2019 bushfire<\/span><\/p>\n

As many as 35 homes are believed to have been razed in a \u201chellish\u201d bushfire on the NSW south coast, but hundreds of people were spared by a last-minute wind change that pushed flames away from them as they sheltered on a beach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Strong winds combined with temperatures close to 40C to turn a fire that began near the township of Tarraganda into a ferocious blaze which jumped the Bega River, tore through a housing \u00adestate and gutted the town of Tathra.<\/span><\/p>\n

As many as 10 homes were also destroyed by fires burning 200km southwest of Melbourne, with the largest fire, near Terang and Camperdown, scorching more than 40,000ha.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly after 2.30pm the Tarraganda fire on the NSW south coast intensified as winds picked up. By 4pm the fire had hit Tathra and NSW Rural Fire Service volunteers warned residents it was too late to leave. Residents were told to seek shelter on the beach as the fire bore down on them. \u201cIt happened extremely quickly,\u201d Tathra Beach House Apartments owner Rob White told The Australian. \u201cWithin half an hour it went from nothing, really, and then it just raced through to Tathra. It got within 100m of the beach where we are but the wind saved us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bega Valley Shire councillors last night said about 35 homes had been destroyed but hundreds were in the path of the fire and crews had only just begun to \u00adassess the damage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr White said he had no power, no phone lines, no internet and no Telstra mobile reception because Tathra was a \u201cblack spot\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

There was also anger about a lack of warnings. Local ABC Radio broadcast the Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights NRL game \u201call afternoon\u201d, according to one resident who decided to leave home without knowing the full extent of the emergency.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTathra. 2018. Power goes out. No internet no TV. Smell smoke. Helicopter starts water bombing behind the house. There is no mobile coverage in Tathra. It\u2019s a black spot. Radio is playing NRL. Decide to leave,\u201d a resident tweeted.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ABC, which has a requirement to broadcast emergency alerts, did not respond to a request for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

NSW Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said crews were moving into fire-affected areas last night alongside police to \u201csystematically catalogue what has been destroyed\u201d but stressed a full picture of the disaster would not be known until today. \u201cWe know dozens of houses have been lost or badly damaged,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

NSW state education authorities were unable to confirm Tathra Public School had been destroyed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kate Roberts, her husband and their two-year-old daughter took to the beach as the fire rushed toward homes and a caravan park. They were among hundreds of people forced to seek sanctuary. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a fire move so fast,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time I didn\u2019t stop to think that it was scary, I think we were just running on adrenaline and we just had to keep moving.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty surreal though, hundreds of people walking and running along the beach. When we got (to Bermagui) I was \u00adshaking.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bermagui Surf Lifesaving Club was being used as an evacuation centre last night, with hundreds of people awaiting news of their homes and belongings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emergency services said they were unaware of anyone unaccounted for.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tas Fitzer, a 21-year-old university student from Tathra, said it was \u201ctraumatising\u201d to witness his home town go up in flames. \u201cWhen the smoke got so thick that you could hardly see a few metres in front of you \u2014 that was pretty scary,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Fitzer and his mother Jo left home about midday when they saw smoke but went to the beach where police told them to get out just before 4pm.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pair and their pets managed to escape to nearby Bega but were last night unsure as to the fate of their home.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely worrying not knowing, but the main thing is that we\u2019re alive,\u201d Mr Fitzer said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tathra resident Zachary \u00adSequoia said the fire \u201cturned pretty hellish\u201d within half an hour. \u201cIt was very, very smoky and there was a lot of chaos,\u201d he said from an evacuation centre in Bega.<\/span><\/p>\n

About 100 firefighters and 41 trucks were at the scene last night dampening fires as the front turned north. The fire remained out of control.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bega Valley Shire councillor Mitchell Nadin said he was told by friends their homes had been lost.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.theaustralian.com.au\/news\/tathras-great-escape-from-coastal-inferno\/news-story\/a381c6cf12c575cf54d449dc7a04294f<\/span><\/p>\n

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