Three fires spanning two states are threatening to merge into a terrifying ‘mega-blaze’ as locals are told to urgently flee – but many are defying the orders and staying to defend their homes.
In the early hours of Monday morning nothing but a river – about 10kms of space – stood between Victoria’s Corryong blaze and the two fires burning out of control at NSW’s Kosciuszko National Park.
Tallangatta incident controller Leith McKenzie said on Sunday more than half the people living in nearby alpine areas had ignored warnings fire crews won’t be able to reach them if disaster strikes on Monday.
‘For anybody in that area, it is getting up to the stage where it could be really serious for them. We will not put our people at risk to go into these areas to protect assets,’ Mr McKenzie said.
‘They should be enacting their evacuation plans. They should have already done it.’
Three fires spanning two states are threatening to merge into a terrifying ‘mega-blaze’ as authorities repeatedly urge locals to flee. Pictured: A family boards an Australian Army Blackhawk helicopter at Omeo Showgrounds, Victoria
As a fire front approached the town of Batlow on Saturday, the sky was filled with orange flames and thick, grey plumes of smoke
Firefighters have spent weeks defending lives and property from the blazes. Pictured: Two firefighters doing what they can to stop the fire in Batlow on Saturday
Jesse Collins breaks down as she talks about how hard it has been getting water to Cobargo, NSW, after the bushfires
There are fears hundreds homes were lost over the weekend across NSW, Victoria and South Australia – but that figure won’t be confirmed until authorities can reach all of the affected communities.
At least three people were killed on Saturday, while four people missing in Victoria are feared dead.
Kangaroo Island, off the coast of South Australia, Batlow and Talbingo in the Snowy Mountains of NSW were all but destroyed over the weekend, when warm weather and strong wind gusts fuelled raging firestorms.
NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons described the conditions as ‘horrendous’, and said the losses would grow once the dust settled and the damage could be properly assessed.
On Saturday, one fire ‘blew up’ and effectively trapped upwards of 30 people in the small village of Wonboyn on the NSW-Victoria border.
‘There’s a search and rescue operation for those who may still be trapped in townships such as Wonboyn,’ RFS spokesman Ben Shepherd told the ABC on Sunday.
‘Indications are (that) there were at least 20 to 30 people who were at the Rural Fire Service shed at Wonboyn. We are working to get access to them.’
Bega-based RFS liaison Greg Potts said Wonboyn residents had sheltered successfully inside the shed and firefighters were now planning how to get supplies to them.
Weather conditions were more favourable on Sunday, with rain offering hope to exhausted volunteers.
Entire homes have been destroyed in Batlow following the bushfires over the weekend
Fire and rescue, as well as waterbombing helicopters, did their best to help out in Batlow on Saturday, but low visibility made it difficult and risky
Dozens of homes are feared lost in Batlow. Pictured: A property completely up in flames on Saturday
Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp urged Victorians to remain vigilant, saying the weather will start to warm up on Thursday and Friday.
‘What we are seeing with our weather, is yes, it is milder, it’s more moderate, there has actually been some rain. But in terms of people thinking that this rain is going to put the fires out, that’s not the case,’ Mr Crisp said.
‘There has been such a drought, particularly in the East Gippsland area, we know these fires are with us for a long time.’
While rain appears like a good outcome on the surface, a Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson said the little amount which is falling is actually considered a ‘double-edged sword’.
The light rainfall, mixed with ash, actually makes conditions more difficult for fire fighters, who are now waiting for the drizzle to stop to continue backburning.
Firefighters are in damage control to prevent further fires or property damage and have knocked over trees to stop them from falling in Corbargo
This picture taken on December 31, 2019 shows a firefighter hosing down trees and flying embers in an effort to secure nearby houses from bushfires near the town of Nowra on the NSW south coast
Some 18 communities in the state remain cut off after road closures and power outages saw supplies dwindle.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed six people are still missing after the fires, which destroyed more than a million hectares – 800,000 in East Gippsland alone.
In total, more than six million hectares of land has been decimated in the blazes, which have been burning since about October.
Authorities have warned that the fires will continue to burn for months.
‘Based on the best estimate we would say [the fires will burn] for at least another eight weeks,’ East Gippsland CFA incident controller Andy Gillham said on Saturday.
‘We are only at the beginning of summer. In a normal year we would start to see the fire season kick off in a big way around early January, but we’re already up there at more than a million hectares of burnt country.
Kangaroo Island, off the coast of South Australia, Batlow and Talbingo in the Snowy Mountains were all but destroyed on Saturday. Pictured: A home in Batlow on fire
The death toll has risen nationally to 24 and 1,500 homes are thought to have been lost – with many in Batlow being burnt down
Business owner Sally Anne Wilson (left) stands in front of her destroyed shop with her partner Christopher Lee in Cobargo, NSW, Wednesday, January 1, 2020
‘We are in it for the long haul, this is a marathon event, we expect to busy for at least the next eight weeks.’
Meanwhile in NSW, Premier Gladys Berejiklian admitted the fire conditions were ‘unprecedented’.
‘We can’t pretend this is something we have experienced before – it’s not,’ she said on Sunday.
‘The weather activity we’re seeing, the extent and spread of the fires, the speed at which they’re going, the way in which they’re attacking communities who’ve never ever seen fire before, is unprecedented.’
The premier’s comments came as 47-year-old David Harrison died battling a blaze near Canberra on Saturday night, making him the ninth fatality in the state since Monday.
Mr Harrison died of a heart attack after returning to a car to refill water to help battle a blaze at his friend’s.
He had travelled to Batlow from his home in Goulburn to help his friend Geoff battle the blaze. He has been remembered as a hero.
David Harrison (pictured) has been identified as the man who died helping a friend save his home near Canberra on Saturday night
Mr Harrison’s brother Peter told 9News his brother would ‘do anything for anyone’.
‘He didn’t want to leave Geoff on his own. He was just that sort of guy. He would help anyone at the drop of a hat – he would drive hours to help you,’ Mr Harrison said.
‘He’s a hero in our eyes.’
Mr Harrison said David and Geoff had planned to evacuate but he believes they were ‘overcome with the heat, smoke, exhaustion and running around putting out spot fires everywhere’.
There were 150 bushfires burning in NSW on Sunday with 60 uncontained. About 50 continued to burn across Victoria.
NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons warned residents not to become complacent.
‘We are seeing an easing of conditions right across the state and there’s even a bit of drizzle down on the South Coast,’ the commissioner told reporters.
A kangaroo rushes past a burning house in Conjola (pictured) on New Year’s Eve, as officials prepare for a ‘horrible day’ on Saturday, with blistering temperatures and high winds likely to make conditions far worse
The burnt out remains of a home in Cobargo – including a child’s princess castle doll house – are common sights following the bushfires
Burnt trees and debris cover the road on January 05, 2020 outside Cann River in Victoria
‘It’s certainly a welcome reprieve… but, unfortunately, it’s not putting out the fires and it’s not helping us with furthering back burning and consolidation work.’
Mr Fitzsimmons said crews this week would try and put in additional containment lines before warmer and windier conditions returned by next weekend.
The RFS commissioner said people needed to remain vigilant because ‘complacency kills’.
Crews are conducting surveys to determine how many homes were lost this weekend, but the RFS suspects it was hundreds.
Areas thought to be hardest hit include Bundanoon, Wingello, Batlow, Adelong, the Jervis Bay area, southwest of Nowra, Boydtown, Kiah, Wonboyn, Towamba and Cabramurra.
NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said early indications suggest hundreds of homes were lost across NSW in Saturday’s blaze
Kangaroo Island was also ravaged.
Well-known outback pilot Dick Lang and his son, Adelaide surgeon Clayton Lang, died on the island after their car was trapped by flames.
The body of 78-year-old Mr Lang was believed to have been found in their vehicle on Playford Highway at Gosse while his 43-year-old son was found some distance away.
Truck drivers deliver much-needed hay for animals, food, clothes and toiletries to desperate bushfire victims
By Brittany Chain for Daily Mail Australia
Truck drivers from across Australia have created a convoy and are driving through bushfire ravaged communities providing essential supplies to people in need.
Hay, food, clothing and toiletries are being driven to Buchan, Omeo and other desperate communities in regional Victoria where supplies are dwindling.
The towns have been cut off from essential supplies for upwards of five days due to the fires, which have decimated much of the surrounding land.
Malcolm Leys, from East Gippsland Livestock Exchange, organised the trip and gathered more than 150 truck drivers to help him ferry supplies to the townspeople.
‘We’re taking everything from dog food, cat food, sheep feed, hay, toothbrushes, you name it,’ Mr Leys told ABC.
The group have been dubbed ‘an army of angels’ after beginning their trip north.
A separate group of 22 trucks are also heading to farmers in East Gippsland to deliver hay from Ballarat.
Laiken and Karl Britt, cattle farmers from Dunnstown, made a public call out just days ago asking for donations of hay and drivers to help fire-ravaged communities.
Ms Britt said the response was overwhelming.
‘If we expected that kind of response I reckon we would have planned it a couple of weeks away, not two days away,’ she said.
‘But it’s all worth it, we’re driving up into the bushes now in Omeo and there’s people on the side of the road smiling and waving.’
Truck drivers from across Australia have created a convoy and are driving through bushfire ravaged communities providing essential supplies to people in need
Firefighters have been working tirelessly to stop homes in Batlow being destroyed in the fires over the weekend
A home is left barely standing in Batlow after a fire ripped through it and the roof collapsed on top of it
Batlow has been one of the most impacted towns of the bushfire crisis in New South Wales following Saturday’s horror conditions
‘It was an awful day yesterday – it was a very difficult day,’ Mr Fitzsimmons said.
‘We are getting reports that the property losses, the damage and destruction, is likely to be numbering in the hundreds as a result of yesterday’s fire activity and fire spread.’
At one stage on Saturday afternoon there were 13 bushfires burning at an emergency level.
‘That’s second only to what we saw a couple of months ago where 17 concurrent fires were burning (at emergency),’ Mr Fitzsimmons said.
A burning gum tree is felled to stop it from falling on a car in Corbago, as bushfires continue in New South Wales
Two donkeys pressed against the fence are seen in Cobargo as orange smoke fills the sky on Sunday
A statewide total fire ban was in place from Sunday while a week-long state of emergency – the third in as many months – continues.
Insurance claims from Australia’s worsening bushfire crisis are estimated at $375 million.
The Insurance Council of Australia says insurers have received 5850 bushfire-related claims in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland since it declared a bushfire catastrophe on November 8.
Two men stand in horror as they watch plumes of smoke and sky-high flames tower over Batlow
Two firefighters are seen trying to stop a blaze in Batlow from spreading after it engulfed a home
Batlow was seen covered in a thick cloud of smoke following the bushfires raging in New South Wales
But the council says the figures don’t include properties lost over the past 24 to 36 hours in areas such as the NSW Southern Highlands and south coast.
Losses are estimated at $375 million, with a further $56 million in insured property losses in September and October.
In addition to the losses of human lives and property, an estimated 500 million animals have died in the blazes.
Those who haven’t died may not have a home to return to.
A statewide total fire ban is in place from Sunday while a week-long state of emergency – the third in as many months – continues to stop more devastation seen in places such as Batlow
A firefighter is seen hosing down a business next to a petrol station in Batlow following the bushfires
‘Across the nation’s bushfire-affected areas it is estimated that as many as 500 million animals, including critically endangered species, have already perished in the bushfires,’ Zoos Victoria CEO Dr Jenny Gray said.
‘The full impact is impossible to determine at this early stage.’
Two staff from Zoos Victoria working at Healesville Sanctuary described signs of hope among the ashes.
‘Despite their injuries and trauma, the bravery shown by the koalas and wildlife at Mallacoota is inspiring,’ Dr Leanne Wicker said.
Dr Wicker is working alongside veterinary nurse Evie Tochterman at the Incident Control Centre established by Victorian government