Posted on 12/06/2002 8:18:04 AM PST by dead
The first victim of the fires circling Sydney - an 81-year-man - was found in a burnt-out caravan in bushland yesterday as a cool but vicious southerly change continued to endanger suburbs.
And in an ominous warning, the Rural Fire Service Commissioner, Phil Koperberg, said residents have just 72 hours to prepare for far worse conditions expected on Monday.
So strong were yesterday's howling southerlies, they pushed embers from the fire threatening Brooklyn across the Hawkesbury River, causing isolated spot fires around Patonga. But they were quickly brought under control.
Incredibly, no houses were lost across the state, leaving the official tally of homes destroyed since Wednesday at 19.
Homes were also threatened at Berowra and Cowan in the north, Menai in the south, Nowra and a stretch of the Blue Mountains from Wentworth Falls to Blackheath.
There were forced evacuations in Berowra as huge pillars of smoke towered over the city's northern outskirts.
The F3 freeway to Newcastle and the northern rail line were closed between Hornsby and Gosford, as was the Great Western Highway at Blackheath and the western rail line between Mount Victoria and Katoomba.
Important closed roads included the Pacific Highway, Ku-ring-gai Road and Bobbin Head Road; Heathcote, New Illawarra and Old Illawarra roads; and Cattai Ridge Road and Old Northern Road. Some had reopened by last night.
Twenty-two public schools were closed and thousands of people were still without power.
The dead man was found on a 104-hectare property at Maroota yesterday morning. Police took a call about 5.30pm on Thursday from his worried son. When the property was finally visited about midnight thick smoke and fire made a search impossible.
Repeating his view that these are the worst fires Sydney has seen in 30 years, Mr Koperberg said there was now an "unprecedented" line of fires stretching 25 kilometres along the Hawkesbury. The extreme dryness of vegetation was causing the 80-odd blazes throughout the state to behave far more erratically than usual, he said.
Conditions today and tomorrow should be mild, but the forecast for Monday is strong north-westerlies and temperatures that could reach the low 40s.
Mr Koperberg urged residents to use their weekends to prepare their homes for the worst. "We have got 72 hours to do what is impossible to do in 72 hours and that's extinguish all those fires." About 4500 firefighters and 80 aircraft will be deployed across the weekend securing southern and eastern flanks against the feared onslaught from the north-west on Monday.
A fire at Moonbi, north of Tamworth, had authorities contemplating airlifts for some isolated residents last night and the New England Highway was closed. Fires near Dungog, Singleton and Buladelah also threatened properties.
An 18-year-old Glenfield man charged with lighting a fire in Sydney's south-west that caused about $1.5 million damage was refused bail at Liverpool Local Court, as Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown called for a national summit to look at controlling arsonists and pyromaniacs.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, said the Federal Government would donate $1 million to the 2002 Bushfire Appeal set up by the State Government.
The Premier, Bob Carr, has also promised $1 million. People who have lost homes will receive one-off payments of $10,000.
Thirteen fire crews battled a blaze that swept along the back of properties south of Canoelands Road before jumping the street and heading into the valley north of the hamlet.
A strong southerly change was predicted for yesterday evening. Firefighters feared it would push the wide fire front towards the Hawkesbury River and communities including Laughtondale and Singletons Mill.
The deputy captain at Canoelands Rural Fire Service, Ken Tucker, said the fires behaved erratically, driven by a severe swirling wind. "When they get to that stage they roar like a 747," he said.
A battle to save 60 Canoelands Road took place yesterday afternoon after fire surrounded the home before 3pm. Asked how long the fight lasted, Group Officer Jeff Cree said, "about three changes of undies".
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