An out-of-control grass fire in Sydney’s south-west has triggered an emergency warning, with some residents being warned it is ‘now too late to leave’ and instead encouraged to seek shelter.
Fire crews were called to the blaze on Camden Valley Way, Horningsea Park just before 2pm on Wednesday.
The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) issued an emergency warning an hour later.
It is now warning residents in the Talarna Hill Drive to Jardine Drive area of Edmondson Park that it is ‘too late to leave’, advising them instead to seek shelter inside a solid structure such as a house.
‘Crews are getting the upper hand to the west of Winburg Drive and Diamond Hill Circuit,’ the RFS website says.
‘People in the area are still advised to seek shelter. It is too late to leave.
‘Embers will be blown long distances ahead of the main fire front starting spot fires, these may impact your home earlier than the main fire front.
‘Firefighters and waterbombing aircraft are working in the area to slow the spread of the fire.’
Fire crews were called to the blaze on Camden Valley Way, Horningsea Park just before 2pm on Wednesday (pictured)
‘Crews are getting the upper hand to the west of Winburg Drive and Diamond Hill Circuit,’ the RFS website says. ‘People in the area are still advised to seek shelter. It is too late to leave’
Authorities have closed Camden Valley Way and Bringelly Road between Talana Hill Drive and Skyline Crescent.
Motorists are advised to avoid the area and use an alternative route, while trains are not running between Glenfield and Leppington on the T2 Inner West and Leppington line.
It comes after the scorching winter heatwave combined with gusts of wind up to 100km/h have triggered a series of bushfires across NSW, as fire chiefs issue an urgent warning to rural property owners.
Over a dozen bush and grass fires have ignited along the southern coast of NSW on Wednesday, with the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions in the state’s south-east particularly affected.
The unseasonably hot temperatures combined with high winds of over 100 km/h have fuelled the fires, as the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) has urged landlords to pause any planned burns.
‘Bush and grass fires can happen at absolutely any time of the year but today we are seeing very strong and gusty winds, particularly in the greater Sydney and sort of Illawarra, Shoalhaven areas,’ a spokesperson for the RFS told Daily Mail Australia.
Over a dozen bush and grass fires have ignited along the southern coast of NSW on Wednesday, with Illawarra and Shoalhaven in the state’s south-east particularly affected (pictured)
The unseasonably hot temperatures combined with high winds of over 100 km/h have fuelled the fires, as the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) has urged landlords to pause any planned burns (pictured: residents defend a property from a bushfire at Hillsville near Taree, 350km north of Sydney on November 12, 2019)
‘That’s why you’re seeing a little band of fires on the coast down there – Shoalhaven, particularly, has been quite busy since even late last night.
‘Trees and powerlines are down and we’ve had a few instances of private landholder hazard reduction burns reigniting under the winds.’
The spokesperson urged landowners to hold off lighting any any ‘private hazard reduction burns’.
‘This is at the time of year traditionally where we do see a lot of landholders doing work, which is great.
‘But on days like today, we are urging you to hold off, don’t light up because the last thing we want to see is those fires get away from you and get out of control and potentially threaten your home or your neighbour’s property as well.’
All fires are currently under control and there are no emergency warnings, according to the RFS website.
It comes as urgent weather warnings have been issued for five Australian states with forecasters predicting large areas of the country are set to be hammered by damaging winds.
Western Australia, NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are all in the firing line of hazardous conditions on Wednesday, with rain also on the horizon.
Severe weather warnings for damaging winds have been issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for Australia’s south-east with possible wind gusts of up to 130km/h.
The gusty conditions are a result of one of the coldest fronts of the year moving across the south-east.
The RFS spokesperson urged landowners to hold off lighting any any ‘private hazard reduction burns’ (pictured: a woman looks down her street as the sky turns red from the fires on January 4, 2020 in Bruthen in East Gippsland, Victoria)
The conditions are expected to be so bad that Victoria’s SES chief Tim Wiebusch issued an urgent warning to residents on Tuesday.
‘Victorians need to act and prepare now for what might be the strongest weather system we’ve seen this winter crossing our state,’ he said.
‘Ensure that you’re driving to the conditions, be alert on our roads to the risk of fallen trees and debris that may be there over the next 36 hours.’
In NSW, a severe weather warning for damaging winds has been issued for Sydney, Illawarra and parts of the Metropolitan, South Coast, Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands, Snowy Mountains and Hunter Forecast Districts.
Damaging winds averaging 60 to 70km/h with peak gusts of around 100km/h are likely for parts of the Blue Mountains and western Sydney.
Winds averaging 70 to 80km/h with peak gusts of around 110km/h are likely for the Illawarra region, easing by early evening.
Urgent weather warnings have been issued for five Australian states as most of the country is set to be hammered by damaging winds
The windy conditions come amid unseasonably warm temperatures for some parts of the country with Brisbane set to be 8C warmer than average on Wednesday reaching a top of 31C
Similar warnings have been issued in Victoria for the Central, East Gippsland, South West, West and South Gippsland, and parts of North Central, North East, Wimmera and Northern Country Forecast Districts.
BOM meteorologist Sarah Scully said the cold front would bring ‘really windy conditions and gusty showers and storms’ to parts of Australia’s south-east.
‘For NSW it’s generally dry but it’s going to be a really windy day, with showers developing about the southern ranges,’ she said.
‘It’ll be noticeably windy particularly for Sydney and the Illawarra region.
‘For Victoria, it’s also going to be a really windy day while for South Australia it’ll be a windy start to Wednesday but those winds will ease by early afternoon.’
These windy conditions come amid unseasonably warm temperatures for some parts of the country with Brisbane set to be 8C warmer than average on Wednesday reaching a top of 31C.
On Monday, a scorching 41.6C was recorded in Yampi Sound, in north-west Western Australia – the highest ever winter temperature recorded in Australia.
The Bureau predicts the increased temperatures will last throughout the week, with some areas seeing highs about 11C greater than the average for the end of winter.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk