9.55am | 127 Essential Energy customers were still without power as a result of the Sir Ivan fire as of 8.38pm Tuesday evening.
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There are now over 150 Essential Energy employees working to restore power as quickly as safety allows for customers.
Employees and equipment have been brought in from Barraba, Bathurst, Blayney, Bombala, Bourke, Canowindra, Cobar, Cooma, Coonabarabran, Coonamble, Dubbo, Dunedoo, Gilgandra, Glen Innes, Goondiwindi, Griffith, Gunnedah, Guyra, Inverell, Jindabyne, Leeton, Lockhart, Molong, Moree, Mudgee, Narrabri, Narromine, Nyngan, Orange, Quirindi, Tamworth, Tenterfield, Wagga Wagga, Walgett and Warren.
It is hoped power will be restored to most customers in the Wollar area by 2pm today.
Customers should contact 13 20 80 if they require further information.
9.19am | The Sir Ivan fire has been downgraded to ‘Watch and Act’ alert level as emergency services continue to bring the blaze under control.
Firefighters are working to consolidate containment lines at the fire which is burning to the east of Dunedoo in the area around Leadville, Coolah and Cassilis.
The fire has burnt more than 50,000 hectares of land and on Sunday destroyed a number of homes and other buildings under Catastrophic fire conditions.
Firefighters are working to consolidate containment lines around the fire ahead of deteriorating weather conditions later in the week.
The main focus of work is in the area of Cassilis and north of Warrumbungles Way. Firefighters are being assisted by water bombing aircraft and heavy plant equipment such as bulldozers to build containment lines.
Crews are working across the fireground patrolling the area, putting out hotspots and flare-ups as they occur.
Emergency services and support agencies are continuing to assess affected roads in the area and remove a significant numbers of fallen trees.
Local Land Services teams are also working with crews on the fireground, attending to animal welfare.
While there is no immediate threat to homes, if you are in the area of Cassilis or Coolah and in the vicinity of Warrumbungles Way, monitor conditions and be prepared to take action if the fire threatens your property.
An information point has been established at the Coolah Sports Club. NSW RFS community liaison members are available to provide information and updates to residents. Local Land Services also have a representative at the Club between 8:00am and 5:00pm today.
Telecommunications may be disrupted in the area due to power outages.
The Golden Highway and Blackstump Way has re-opened, however please use caution when traveling in the area as roads may close at short notice for firefighting operations.
There will be a community meeting a the Coolah School Hall today (Wednesday) at 11:00am.
If your life is at risk, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.
Continue to stay up to date with the bush fire situation by checking http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au, listening to your local radio station or by calling the NSW RFS Bush Fire Information Line on 1800 679 737.
If you live in the area but are away from home, it may not be safe to return to your property.
For information on road closures, check http://livetraffic.rta.nsw.gov.au. Roads may be closed without warning.
Disaster assistance arrangements have been activated. Visit the Emergency NSW website for information and contact details.
Tuesday, February 14, 5.20pm | The Golden Highway has now reopened between Leadville and Cassilis after being closed due to a bushfire.
The diversion via Gulgong has been lifted.
Motorists should continue to exercise caution through the area and follow the directions of personnel on the ground.
Emergency services are still in the vicinity working to put the fire out.
For the latest traffic information, visit www.livetraffic.com or call 132 701.
4.54pm | This just in from the NSW Transport Management Centre:
The Golden Highway has reopened between Merriwa and Cassilis, however it remains closed between the Castlereagh Highway in Leadville and Cassilis due to a bushfire.
As a result, a new diversion via Gulgong is in place for all vehicles, including B-doubles.
Eastbound motorists are diverting onto the Castlereagh Highway, Caledonian Street, Rouse Street, Station Street, Cope Road, Main Street and then Ulan Road to rejoin the Golden Highway.
Westbound motorists are taking the same diversion, but in reverse.
Motorists are advised to allow extra travel time and follow the directions of emergency services and traffic controllers.
Additionally, Thunderbolts Way has reopened between Barrington and Nowendoc after being closed due to a bushfire.
The diversion via the Oxley Highway has been lifted.
For the latest traffic information, visit www.livetraffic.com or call 132 701.
2.21pm | NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has met with volunteers and Incident Management staff today at the Sir Ivan fire ground.
2.16pm | Crews from the Dubbo Rescue Squad have been assisting local crews at Cassilis to fight the Sir Ivan fire.
“The damage done by the fire is catastrophic, it is very hard to take in the amount of damage this event has caused,” the squad said in a post on its Facebook page.
“The NSW Rural Fire Service have done a wonderful job managing this incident considering its sheer size.”
1.36pm | Here is the latest update from the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS):
A large bush fire is burning to the east of Dunedoo, north of the Golden Highway. The fire is burning in the area of Leadville, Coolah and Cassilis. The fire has burned approximately 52,000 hectares and is being controlled.
Current Situation: The fire is currently burning to the east of Dunedoo moving in a north easterly direction.
Firefighters are concentrating their efforts in the area of Cassilis and north of Warrumbungles Way in an effort to contain the fire with the assistance of heavy plant and water bombing aircraft, before temperatures begin to warm up over the next few days.
Crews will also patrol other areas of the fire and continue to mop up and black out.
Emergency services and support agencies will continue assessing areas throughout the morning in an effort to re-open affected areas to residents.
Advice: People in the areas of Cassilis, and Coolah and in the vicinity of Warrumbungles Way should continue to monitor the situation closely and be prepared to implement their bush fire survival plan.
Follow the directions of firefighters in the area.
A bushfire information point has been established at the Coolah Sports club. NSW RFS community liaison members are available to provide information and updates to residents. Local Land Services also have a representative at the Club between 1:30pm and 6:30pm today and 8:00am and 5:00pm tomorrow.
Telecommunications may be disrupted in the area due to power outages.
The Golden Highway remains closed between Dunedoo, Denman and the Hunter Expressway at Singleton. Other local roads may be closed at short notice.
Other Information: If your life is at risk, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.
Continue to stay up to date with the bush fire situation by checking www.rfs.nsw.gov.au, listening to your local radio station or by calling the NSW RFS Bush Fire Information Line on 1800 679 737.
If you live in the area but are away from home, it may not be safe to return to your property.
For information on road closures, check http://livetraffic.rta.nsw.gov.au. Roads may be closed without warning.
11.52am | Half of the Sir Ivan fire zone has now been inspected by the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS)’s assessment teams.
Twenty-three homes, one church and 51 outbuildings have been declared destroyed. Another two homes have been damaged.
Across NSW, a total of 32 homes have been declared destroyed as result of the weekend’s catastrophic bush fires.
11.03am | This just in from Essential Energy: “Approximately 70 percent of the bushfire affected area has now been flown by helicopter and over 200 power poles have been destroyed and will require replacing.
In addition, it is expected that a large number of power poles still standing will also require replacing due to fire damage.
Essential Energy employees and equipment from Bathurst, Blayney, Bourke, Dubbo, Dunedoo, Canowindra, Coonabarabran, Coonamble, Gilgandra, Molong, Moree, Mudgee, Narromine, Nyngan, Orange, Quirindi, Tamworth and Warren are assisting to restore power as quickly as safety allows for customers.
Crews are currently working to restore power to as many (majority, but not all) households and businesses as possible in the Coolah Tops Road and Cassillis Vinegaray areas. An indicative restoration time for this area is 3pm today (Tuesday).
It is also hoped that power will be restored to as many (majority, but not all) households and businesses as possible in the Borambil Park and Collaroy areas today (Tuesday).
The bushfires have caused significant and wide spread damage to the electricity network and we expect that restoration of power to all households and businesses will take some time.
Essential Energy again urges the public to stay at least eight metres away from damaged or fallen electricity infrastructure.
We appreciate this is a difficult time for those customers affected and thank them for their understanding.
Customers should contact 13 20 80 if they require further information.”
10.25am | Residents returning to homes and properties damaged by catastrophic bushfires have been urged to protect themselves against deadly asbestos fibres.
The Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia has warned that a high proportion of homes built before 1987 contain asbestos products, while the use of asbestos fibro sheeting was particularly prevalent in farm sheds and outbuildings.
ADFA president Barry Robson said the intense heat from bushfires often shattered bonded asbestos products, allowing the deadly fibres to mix with ash and other debris and become airborne.
“As people return to their homes it is a natural instinct to search through the remains for cherished possessions that may have survived the blaze, but it is essential that people protect themselves and their families from potential dangers,” Mr Robson said.
“Intense fires cause asbestos materials to break up, meaning the deadly fibres are set free and can easily become airborne when disturbed.
“Losing your home is tragic enough, but the last thing anyone wants is to add the future suffering of asbestos related diseases because appropriate safety precautions weren’t taken.”
Mr Robson said suitable asbestos masks and disposable suits could be purchased from most major hardware stores, while thoroughly watering down the debris will also limit the risk of asbestos fibres becoming airborne due to wind or other disturbance.
Tuesday, February 14, 8.55am | Power has been restored in Coolah as Essential Energy crews continue the clean-up from the Sir Ivan fire.
Power was restored to 30 customers at 7.44pm on Monday, with a further 315 customers, including all of the township of Coolah, gaining power at 12.14am Tuesday.
Extra crews and equipment are again travelling to the area today to assist Dunedoo crews restore power as quickly as safety allows for the 580 households and businesses still affected by unplanned power outages related to electricity infrastructure damage from the bushfires.
The Sir Ivan fire has now burned more than 54,000 hectares and is being controlled by emergency services.
Essential Energy reminds the public to stay at least eight meters away from fallen powerlines and anything touching them.
Customers should contact 13 20 80 if they require further information.
Monday, February 13, 5.53pm | As we sign off for the day, the Sir Ivan Fire continues to affect residents north west of Warrumbungle Way between Rotherwood Road and Coolah Creek Road.
Follow the directions of your emergency services. And if you ARE the emergency services, thank you for keeping us safe.
4.25pm | The NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) has completed an initial assessment of areas affected by bush fires at the weekend, with 19 homes confirmed destroyed.
Twelve of those were in the Sir Ivan Fire (Warrumbungle), including five at Uarbry, while another home has been damaged.
Another 15 outbuildings and a church have been destroyed.
The assessment of the Sir Ivan fire is continuing, with just 20 per cent of the fire zone assessed.
The assessment of the White Cedars Road, Kains Flat fire (Mudgee) has not yet commenced due to the current fire conditions.
The Department of Primary Industries has advised there is also extensive loss of stock, machinery and fencing.
3.40pm | From Essential Energy: “Extra crews are currently assisting Dunedoo based crews replace 12 power poles on the main powerline servicing the Coolah area.
Crews hope to be able to restore power to Coolah township tonight and potentially the Coolah Tops Road area.
The electricity network continues to be inspected by road and air to determine the full extent of the damage from the bushfires.
Until the full extent of the damage is known we are not able to provide estimated restorations times other than the estimations for Coolah township and the Coolah Tops Road area as noted above.
Crews are working as quickly as safety allows to restore power for affected customers.
Essential Energy acknowledges and thanks the Rural Fire Service for their ongoing advice.
We appreciate this is a difficult time for those customers affected and thank them for their understanding.
Customers should contact 13 20 80 if they require further information.”
1.40pm | Emotions were “all over the place” as about 400 people attended a community meeting at Coolah Sporting Club this morning.
Warrumbungle Shire Mayor Peter Shinton said NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS), NSW Police, and council personnel were all present to bring the community up-to-speed on the Sir Ivan Fire.
“It was pretty well run and lots of questions and I’m pretty sure we’ve answered most of them,” Councillor Shinton said.
“All anybody is looking for is information.
“We’re putting out a news sheet with updates and contacts for people who have lost stock or property.”
Coolah Sporting Club has also served as an evacuation centre, but Cr Shinton said everybody had a bed last night.
“Emotions are all over the place,” he said.
“We’ve got people who are looking after people, last night people evacuated to the club and everyone had a place to sleep and the community is pulling together as we would expect.”
The fire has burned almost 50,000 hectares so far and is yet to be brought under control.
It has brought back memories of the Wambelong Fire of 2013 which burned a similar area, but much more quickly.
Unlike that blaze, the council and community had 24 hours notice ahead of Sunday’s catastrophic conditions, and an incident controller was ready to go.
“I think we’re gonna see some large property losses, we know we’ve lost some iconic properties but the assessment teams are on the ground,” Cr Shinton said.
“I think this is going to be a fire that’s going to leave a mark, not only on the community but on the economy as well.
“A huge thank you to the volunteer firefighters but also the way people have pulled together in the shire.”
1.15pm | This just in from Essential Energy: “Around 893 households and businesses in the Cassillis, Coolah, Leadville and surrounding areas are currently affected by unplanned power outages due to bushfire damage to the electricity network.
Crews were able to restore power to 315 households and businesses in parts of Coolah, including the hospital and a part of the main street, at approximately 9.30am this morning.
We are aware that there are at least 12 power poles on the main powerline servicing the Coolah area damaged and crews will focus their efforts on replacing these poles which are located in the Hannahs Bridge area. Crews hope to be able to restore power to most of the Coolah township today, but no guarantees can be given at this stage due to the amount of damage.
A helicopter is in the air assessing the damage to the electricity network and early reports are that the damage is significant.
Crews and equipment from multiple depots will be assisting Dunedoo based crews make repairs and restore power as quickly as safety allows for customers.
We appreciate this is a difficult time for those customers affected and thank them for their understanding.
Customers should contact 13 20 80 if they require further information.”
1.09pm | Firefighters are among those to lose homes in the Sir Ivan Fire, NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has confirmed.
“The community of Uarbry has been heavily impacted by fire and I would suggest most buildings in the community of Uarbry are damaged and/or destroyed,” he said on Monday morning.
“As a matter of fact one of our captains in that local area was a resident and Uarbry. He was out fighting the fires and he has come back to find that his home is destroyed.”
More than 2500 firefighters were deployed across NSW at the peak of Sunday’s fire conditions, while thousands more were on standby.
More than 1.5 million emergency warning messages were sent to people to advise them of the local situation.
“Over the weekend, the catastrophic conditions as they were forecast indeed materialised. We saw widespread catastrophic conditions starting out as early as mid-to-late morning in some parts and extending right through to the very late afternoon,” Commissioner Fitzsimmons said.
“As a result over the weekend we saw more than 200 bush and grass fires start and need to be dealt with by the firefighting agencies right across the state and only yesterday there was 124 fires that we were dealing with around NSW.
“Of course we’ve got those five areas that went to emergency warning alert status and multiple, numerous different emergency alerts were sent to areas directly affected with different tailored messaging based on their particular risk and what we were advising them to do given the threat of that fire.
“Properties and property have been destroyed.
“Our specialist impact teams are out across all these fire grounds as we speak seeking to get detailed analysis of the extent of loss.
“We know there are going to be homes lost, we know there are plenty of other buildings that have been destroyed.
“There is much that has been destroyed and as the premier has indicated we are talking about livestock that have been destroyed as well, not to mention a host of other agricultural assets and indeed critical community infrastructure such as power, radio, telecommunications, transmissions sites and so on.”
He said two firefighters had been injured: one near Mudgee suffering s severe laceration to the hand, and one near Boggabri hospitalised with serious burns.
“The minister [Troy Grant] mentioned that one of the fires at Dunedoo is something like 50,000 hectares at the moment,” Commissioner Fitzsimmons said.
“That fire is likely to grow in size as they implement the full suite of containment strategies.
“By way of perspective the current active edge around that fire is around 200 kilometres.
“That’s a lot of edge for firefighters to deal with and to seek to bring under control.”
11.30am | Members of Fire and Rescue NSW’s 280 Dubbo Retained team have been battling the Sir Ivan fire.
11.25am | Member for Dubbo and Emergency Services Minister Troy Grant said the weekend’s conditions were “unprecedented”.
“There is a sigh of relief and a feeling of some respite with the cool change that came in but ... we must remember that there are many who have been devastated by fires in their regions,” Mr Grant said.
“What it [the southerly change] did with those gusty winds was increase the hazard and the devastation of the fire which rose to extraordinarily wide breadth of the fire zone.
“Let’s not forget that it was only four years ago that a lot of the people across the Warrumbungles were devastated by the Wambelong fire there who will now have to deal with another area of their region being devastated again and the community support, as well as those involved in government, is there and will be there ongoing to help them through this most difficult of times as they start the recovery effort.”
11.10am | NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has addressed the media in Sydney this morning: “I want to express on behalf of the people of NSW our thoughts for those families and individuals, some of whom were volunteers fighting fires elsewhere.
“So I can confirm that some volunteers were fighting to save other people’s properties actually lost their own.
“We again express our deepest support and empathy to those individuals who’ve lost property, who’ve lost stock, who’ve lost animals because we appreciate what a distressing time it is for them but I’m also so deeply relieved that to date we haven’t had any loss of life.
“We have had some injuries which the Commissioner will expand on but again these are not life-threatening and a huge debt of gratitude to those firefighters and volunteers on the ground who’ve made every effort to support those communities in such despair.”
10.38am | A Watch and Act alert remains in place for the Sir Ivan Fire.
From the Rural Fire Service: “A large bush fire is burning to the east of Dunedoo, north of the Golden Highway. The fire is moving north towards Leadville and Coolah. The fire has burned approximately 42,000 hectares and is not yet contained.
Current Situation: The fire is currently burning to the east of Dunedoo moving in a northerly direction towards Black Stump Way, Leadville and Coolah.
Although conditions are easing, people in the area should remain vigilant and prepared to implement their bush fire survival plan.
Building Impact Assessment Teams will inspect the area later today to report on any loss or damage to property and livestock.
A community meeting will be held at the Coolah Sporting Club, Goddard Street at 11am today, Monday 13 February.
Advice: People in the areas of Leadville, Turill, Cassilis and Coolah should remain vigilant and prepared to implement their bush fire survival plan.
Follow the directions of firefighters in the area.
Telecommunications may be distrupted in the area due to power outages.
The Golden Highway remains closed between Dunedoo, Merriwa, Denman and the Hunter Expressway at Singleton. Other local roads may be closed at short notice.
An evacuation centre at Club Mudgee, Mudgee remains open. The Merriwa RSL evacuation centre is now closed.
The Mudgee Showground has also been opened to cater for people with animals.
A community meeting will be held at the Coolah Sporting Club, Goddard Street at 11am today, Monday 13 February.
Other Information:
- If your life is at risk, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.
- Continue to stay up to date with the bush fire situation by checking http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au, listening to your local radio station or by calling the NSW RFS Bush Fire Information Line on 1800 679 737.
- If you live in the area but are away from home, it may not be safe to return to your property.
- For information on road closures, check http://livetraffic.rta.nsw.gov.au. Roads may be closed without warning.