MORE than 40 firefighters in 10 trucks will be departing the region today to help combat fires in the Blue Mountains area.
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The task force will draw firefighters from the Orana area with members travelling from as far afield as Brewarrina and Lightning Ridge to support effort to control the blaze.
The firefighters will form part of a divisional taskforce made up of firefighters from the Western area of NSW; numbering 90 staff and 23 vehicles.
Area Commander, chief superintendent Neil Harris said it was important to offer every support to communities in the Blue Mountains.
Many of the firefighters who were recognised for their efforts in saving the Siding Spring observatory in January will be providing their knowledge and experience.
This is the second contingent Fire Rescue NSW has sent from Dubbo with crews from Dubbo and Gilgandra spending last Thursday night fighting fires to protect Winmalee High School.
The task force will spend the night at Bathurst tonight in order to be on the fire ground first thing Wednesday morning.
Chief superintendent Harris said weather conditions were expected to be at their most volatile on Wednesday and Thursday and the task force would be tested by the extreme conditions. Logistics co-ordinator Jessica Horn will also be filling a vital role in the team.
Meanwhile three top-level emergency warnings are in place across NSW with bushfires flaring up across the state as the feared hot and gusty conditions begin to materialise.
Residents along Bells Line of Road remain under threat from the massive State Mine Fire burning between Lithgow and the Blue Mountains which authorities fear could join with others in the area to become one “mega-fire” stretching more than 300 kilometres.
The Rural Fire Service (RFS) yesterday also issued an emergency warning for the Springwood fire in the lower mountains, which flared up again between Chapman Parade and Grose Road near Faulconbridge.
Residents in the area have been urged to shelter in their homes and monitor the RFS website and local radio for street-specific information.
Workers at an evacuation centre at the Springwood Sports Club are preparing for an influx of people.
An emergency warning has also been declared for a bushfire at Balmoral in the southern highlands, which is blowing burning embers into the town of Wilton, southwest of Sydney.
Residents there have been told to watch for spot fires that may begin on their properties and seek shelter as the fire front approaches.
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the Southern Highlands fire was “well and truly heading towards Wilton” and crews had been deployed to protect a nearby natural gas facility from the flames.
He said fears of a merger of two Blue Mountains fires - the State Mine Fire and the Mount Victoria blaze - could be realised by today.
“I suspect (the two fires will meet) somewhere in the middle of the Grose Valley,” he said yesterday afternoon.
“It’s only about three to five kilometres apart in some areas, it won’t take that long for (them) to join together.”
More than 200 homes have already been destroyed in the fires.
Earlier, Police Minister Michael Gallacher and Mr Fitzsimmons expressed their disgust after two young boys were charged with deliberately lighting fires.
Police yesterday said they had charged an 11-year-old boy with starting two fires near Newcastle on October 13.
A 14-year-old boy has also been charged with starting a fire at Rutherford on Sunday and two girls aged 12 and 13 were charged with deliberately lighting a grass fire in Sydney’s west the previous day.
Mr Fitzsimmons described deliberate fire-setting as reckless and stupid.
Police had also received reports looters were targeting homes abandoned by people fleeing the NSW bushfires, Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said.
The insurance bill from the NSW fires is now up to $94 million with 855 claims made, according to figures provided by the Insurance Council of Australia.
