A 70-metre high wall of flames is bearing down on homes north-west of Sydney – as residents are warned it’s ‘too late to leave’.
An emergency warning was issued on Sunday afternoon for the Gospers Mountain blaze, which is more than 378,000 hectares in size and ravaging the Blue Mountains.
At least two homes were reportedly destroyed by 11.30pm, as the blaze scaled above the trees and sent plumes of smoke through the sky.
A 70-metre high wall of flames is bearing down on homes north-west of Sydney
Plumes of smoke are seen rising above the Blue Mountains on Sunday amid the Gospers Mountain fire
Footage shared by the Terrey Hills Brigade and captured by Captain Peter Duff showed the out-of-control flames at Mt Tomah.
Behind the camera, a firefighter can be heard saying there were ‘spot fires galore down here’ which were stretching between 60 to 70 metres high.
‘Please keep in mind that this is fire weather behaviour in fairly mild conditions but the actual fire doesn’t seem to care. This week is going to get hot,’ Terrey Hills Brigade said with the video.
Pictures taken at the panoramic Evans and Govetts Leap lookouts showed clouds of smoke engulf the sky above the Blue Mountains greenery.
The blaze broke containment lines on Sunday afternoon and crossed Bowen Creek.
In a statement on Sunday evening, the NSW Rural Fire Service said the Gospers Mountain fire was impacting Mount Wilson, Mount Irvine, Mount Tomah and Berambing.
Embers were also falling in the Bilpin area and could start new fires ahead of the main fire front.
‘It is too late to leave. Seek shelter as the fire approaches. Protect yourself from the heat of the fire,’ the emergency warning said.
There were more than 2,000 personnel working on the 108 bush and grass fires burning across NSW at 11.30pm and 57 blazes yet to be contained.
RFS deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said there were reports of properties being impacted and some being alight.
‘Firefighters are trying to protect as many properties as they can but people in that area would see that that fire’s behaviour is really tough, it’s going to be a long afternoon and a long evening for people in that area,’ Mr Rogers told ABC TV on Sunday night.
‘We’re doing everything we can to protect people, but people obviously need to avoid the area.’
An emergency warning was issued on Sunday afternoon for the Gospers Mountain blaze, which is more than 378,000 hectares in size and ravaging the Blue Mountains
In a statement on Sunday evening, the NSW Rural Fire Service said the Gospers Mountain fire was impacting Mount Wilson, Mount Irvine, Mount Tomah and Berambing. ‘It is too late to leave. Seek shelter as the fire approaches. Protect yourself from the heat of the fire,’ the emergency warning said
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast severe heatwave conditions will hit most of NSW by the end of the coming week.
Places such as Cobar, Broken Hill and Griffith will see temperatures above 40C in the coming week, the bureau has said.
With 110 fires burning in NSW, and many burning since August, the RFS is quite concerned about conditions from Wednesday onwards, Mr Rogers said.
Fire is on both sides of Bells Line of Road with concern about fires burning towards the Blue Mountains, he said.
‘There’s going to be a lot of work going on over the next 24 hours to try and just see what we can do to protect as many properties as we can, but people should be under no illusions – we’re not going to get this fire put out – and we’re going to have to get through this next week of really hot weather with these fires being very active,’ he told the ABC.
Pictured: Smoke over the Blue Mountains. The Gospers Mountain blaze is more than 378,000 hectares in size and ravaging the Blue Mountains
Watch and act alerts were also issued on Sunday for the Carrot Farm Road blaze in Deepwater, in the state’s northeast, and the Green Wattle Creek fire, south of the Warragamba Dam wall in the Blue Mountains National Park.
An earlier watch and act for the Bakers Creek Road blaze in Bundarra was later downgraded to advice level.
Total fire bans are in place for Monday for the far North Coast, central ranges, New England, northern slopes and north western fire regions, with the latter four under severe fire danger.
Some 724 homes, 49 facilities and 1582 outbuildings had been destroyed so far this fire season. Six people have died and 2.7 million hectares have been scorched.
Footage shared by the Terrey Hills Brigade showed the out-of-control flames at Mt Tomah. Behind the camera, Peter Duff said there were ‘spot fires galore down here’ which were stretching between 60 to 70 metres high