Seek shelter as the fire approaches
New South Wales Rural Fire Service:
EMERGENCY WARNING – Currowan fire (Shoalhaven LGA)
The fire is now burning in Kangaroo Valley.
If you are in the area of Kangaroo Valley, seek shelter as the fire approaches.
For more information: https://t.co/S1fx90d8jK pic.twitter.com/DhQd0Nisqh— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 4, 2020
EMERGENCY WARNING – Border Fire (Bega Valley LGA)
If you are in the area of Womboyn, Kiah, Narrabarba, Towamba, Burragate, Eden and surrounds, you are at risk. It is too late to leave. Seek shelter as the fire approaches. #nswrfs #nswfires #alert pic.twitter.com/fHbAOc9fvg— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 4, 2020
EMERGENCY WARNING – Morton Fire (Wingecarribee LGA)
A fire is spreading quickly in the area N of Shoalhaven River. If you are in Bundanoon, Wingello, Penrose, Meryla and surrounding areas it is too late to leave. Seek shelter as the fire approaches. #nswfires #nswrfs #alert pic.twitter.com/2IxL7YNPKy— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 4, 2020
EMERGENCY WARNING – Morton Fire (Wingecarribbee LGA)
The fire is spreading quickly. If you are in Tallong, Werai, Exeter, Manchester Square, Avoca, Fitzroy Falls, Barrengary or surrounding areas it is too late to leave. Seek shelter as fire approaches. #nswrfs #nswfires #alert pic.twitter.com/ZzGIJk4Bu4— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 4, 2020
It is too late to leave, it is too late to leave, it is too late to leave.
Another difficult day for communities around NSW. At midnight, with the threat still not over, there are 7 fires at Emergency Warning and 11 at Watch & Act. A state-wide total fire ban remains in place for Sunday, 5 Jan. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/jopBiTrHZT
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 4, 2020
At 10:30am there are 150 fires burning, 64 are uncontained. After a difficult day for firefighters yesterday, around 2,300 firefighters are active in the field today. Conditions have eased, however a statewide total fire ban remains in place. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/FUpI9vyTpG
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 4, 2020
That last is the most recent, 16 minutes ago.
The sky here in Canberra where I am at the moment (12:15 PM) is a light orange, in every direction, and the air is so smoky that we dare not open windows, because my wife has asthma, and medical authorities warn against it. Nothing but constant fire news on the ABC News Channel.
“Homes flooded in Cooma during NSW fire emergency after water tank bursts”
You would not read about it.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-05/cooma-water-tank-explodes-amid-fires-damaging-homes-and-property/11841596
Unusual visitors today, look like they came down from the Adelaide Hills seeking food and water. Hopefully to brighten your day in the doom and gloom.
http://flair.net.nz/envira/galahs/
I’m in Canberra too and the smoke is the worst so far. Some friends have left for Queensland or elsewhere. We had kangaroos seeking shelter under our large eucalypt a few days ago but they’ve gone now. It all has a Gotterdaemmerung feeling about it.
The thick haze is predicted to hang around till at least Friday. Indeed, it’s dangerous for asthamatics. But we’re in a much better state than the folk on or near the coast. In the meantime, our appalling prime minister tries to look like he’s doing something.
I wonder what “seek shelter” means. What kind of shelter could be survivable?
I would imagine that ‘seek shelter’ would mean finding a building not made of wood, with a generous supply of water to hand to extinguish any small fires which might break out.
I lived in Adelaide for three years. We had planned to stay for six months, but I had a heart attack thanks to the stress of working outside in that terrible heat, got diagnosed with two heart disorders, got told ‘do not fly’, and couldn’t leave. When the project my husband was working on (IT project for the South Australian government) came to an end, he was offered a contract with the federal government in Canberra. I had recently watched a documentary on the 2003 fires which had destroyed much of the Western suburb of Duffy, thanks to inaction by the authorities. I told him that although I wouldn’t be happy to move there, I would do so provided we didn’t move to Duffy. Of course, guess where we ended up? (Fate does things like that to me; the only ambition I had ever had with regards to Australia as a whole was never to visit, let alone live there.) Our house was the only one left standing on our side of the street from the fires five years earlier.
The smoke is dangerous for asthmatics but also for everyone else. Smoke is not good for anyone’s lungs. I read up on it summer before last when we had a milder but still plenty bad version: the summaries were along the lines of “an hour outside is the equivalent of smoking X number of cigarettes.” Not, like, instantly lethal for everyone, but definitely unhealthy. Sympathies to all of you in it.