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Just two weeks after snow blanketed the ground in the Blue Mountains, a bush fire flared in Wentworth Falls in the same location. Despite the cool weather, the fire quickly became dangerous fuelled by strong and gusty winds and heavy fuel loads. Homes were threatened on the Sunday night 2 August, but a massive effort by fire services over seven days kept damage to a minimum. Even as the fire was burning, firefighters found themselves dealing with cold winds and single digit temperatures. On some overnight shifts, temperatures dropped below zero. The NSW Police Force is treating the fire as suspicious and is conducting an investigation into the cause of the blaze.
Friday 31 July 2015
Sunday 2 August
In the early evening a fire was reported to be burning out of control in inaccessible country between the cliff top and Little Switzerland Drive, near the intersection of Hordern Road and to the west of Tableland Road in Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains. Heavy winds reaching 80kph were increasing fire activity. The fire was active on top of the plateau as well as within the Jamison Valley below. NSW RFS and FRNSW sent resources to the fire and by midnight around 150 firefighters were on scene battling the blaze and protecting property. Property in the vicinity of Coronation Parade, Tablelands Rd, and Hordern Avenue were under possible threat. Backburning and direct attack was conducted throughout the night.
Winds remained low on the fireground throughout most of the night but wind gusts picked up early morning substantially increasing fire activity.
Saturday 1 August Due to winds gusting 40kph to 50 kph from the SW, driving fire behaviour towards properties in Hordern Road, Tablelands Road, Coronation Road an Emergency Warning was issued at 0520hrs for homes in the area. The fire had burned 30 hectares overnight and crews were setting up for property protection and door knocking residents in area. Water-bombing aircraft got to work and within a few hours fire activity had lessened and the Alert level was downgraded to Watch and Act. The rest of the day was focussed on containment strategies under gusty conditions and the forecast for stronger winds to come. By the evening the fire was contained and no properties were under threat.
Due to the resourcing levels and the nature of the fire, the NSW RFS Acting Commissioner Rob Rogers made a Section 44 declaration early on Sunday morning. Around 20 fire appliances and 100 firefighters comprising specialist fire crews, crews from FRNSW and NPWS and waterbombing helicopters, were brought in to assist local crews working to contain the fire. Crews battled strong winds which continued to whip up the fire's intensity. Throughout the morning the fire crossed Tablelands Road, at one stage threatening the air services tower in the area however there was no direct threat to properties. Crews concentrated their efforts between the cliff top and Little Switzerland Drive, including small areas of bushland burning in the Jamison Valley. About 130 firefighters were on the ground, including Remote Area Firefighting Teams (RAFT), to focus on the fire that dropped over the escarpment. Firefighters were also on standby near homes on the southern side of Wentworth Falls in case the fire burned towards properties. By midday the weather had provided an opportunity for firefighters to take a more aggressive approach towards containing the fire including backburning at the southern end of Tableland Rd near the old disused Queen Victoria Hospital.
Waterbombing helicopters were busy all day helping firefighters contain the blaze but were stood down at night fall. Within 15 minutes, fire activity had increased significantly and at 1752hrs an Emergency Warning was issued. Homes were under direct threat as the bush fire flared up and moved quickly up the escarpment toward homes on Coronation Parade. “It was impressive, flame height was 15-20 metres,” said NSW RFS Media Manager Inspector Ben Shepherd who was on the scene. “Firefighters from the NSW RFS and FRNSW did some outstanding work over those few hours,” he said. “As the fire moved quickly towards homes in Coronation Road they stood their ground and as a result there has been no serious damage or losses to homes in the area.” By 1900hrs the immediate threat to homes around Wentworth Falls had eased and, to the relief of firefighters, some rain fell on the fireground. Around 160 firefighters from NSW RFS, FRNSW and National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) remained on scene throughout the night. Throughout these few hours some residents chose to self-evacuate from Tablelands Road and Coronation Road as a precaution. One dwelling on Tablelands Road sustained minor damage to its roof as a result of ember attack during this period. The Hordern Avenue fire was downgraded to Advice level by the end of the day, however it had spread to 350 hectares.
Monday 3 August Over 100 firefighters and three aircraft continued to work to contain the fire throughout the day although the fireground remained relatively quiet. The fire continued to burn in the Jamison Valley in blustery conditions but did not pose any threat to property. Overnight the temperature in the Blue Mountains dropped to -1°C and while the cold conditions made it challenging, crews were able to deepen containment lines to a depth of 10 to 20 metres.
Tuesday 4 August Over 160 firefighters from NSW RFS, NPWS and FRNSW continued to strengthen containment lines, this included 14 Remote Aerial Firefighters who were winched into the western flank of the fire to direct attack hot spots and strengthen containment lines. Good progress was also made to contain the eastern side of the fire along the Ingar Fire Trial. Aircraft with thermal imaging cameras were used to identify hotspots on the fireground in the rugged terrain below the escarpment. Subsequently RAFT from NSW RFS and NPWS were sent in to undertake close containment on these hotspots including direct attack and mop up supported by aerial bucketing.
Wednesday 5 August Backburning continued along the Ingar Fire Trail along with mop up and patrol throughout the fireground. The fire had burnt close to 400ha by now and a close eye was kept on the level of fire activity which remained low. BUSH FIREbulletin //INCIDENTS 11