An out-of-control emergency level blaze is threatening rural properties south of Narrabri after a fire-generated thunderstorm contributed to “erratic” firefighting conditions, the NSW Rural Fire Service says.
As the bushfire in the state’s north-west continues to burn, Sydneysiders will sweat through temperatures in the 30s on Tuesday before possibly severe thunderstorms bring a deluge in the afternoon.
On Tuesday, the NSW RFS warned anyone still in the rural areas of Baan Baa, Willala and Goolhi that it was too late to escape the fire and the best advice was to shelter in place.
“If you are in the area of Baan Baa, Willala or Goolhi, your life is at risk. It is too late to leave,” the RFS emergency warning said.
“Seek shelter now or as the fire approaches in a solid structure such as a house. Do not be caught in the open in the path of the fire.”
The bushfire has scorched more than 84,000 hectares of land since it was sparked on December 8 and is burning in a southerly direction.
The RFS reports that on Monday night the fire created a phenomenon known as a pyrocumulonimbus, a weather system contained within the smoke cloud of a large bushfire. As the Bureau of Meteorology explains, this happens when the intense heat of a fire rises rapidly into a smoke plume and drags cooler air up with it, and as the plume rises and cools in an unstable atmosphere it creates its own thunderstorms.
This bushfire-generated weather system causes dangerous fire behaviour – it can blow the flames in different directions and cause spot fires as embers are blown far ahead of the fire front. Lightning can even develop.
The fire ripped through the Pilliga forest, which is also the site of the proposed Santos Narrabri gas project. A spokesman for Santos said the fire had not posed a risk to any Santos facilities, but they had shut down operations.
“The fires in the Pilliga are of enormous concern to our community around Narrabri. Santos is working very closely with the Rural Fire Service and the Forestry Corporation,” the spokesman said.
“We are offering our full support to the response effort, including access to our water tanks and the use of our facilities as safe refuge for firefighting crews if needed.
“While there is no risk to – or because of – our facilities, we have shut in our operations for the time being. We will continue to support the Rural Fire Service in any way we can and hope that everyone remains safe while the situation is brought under control,” the spokesman said.
As of 7am on Tuesday there were 63 fires burning across NSW and 15 were not contained. More than 450 firefighters are working across the state.
While firefighters work to protect rural homes, Sydney is facing a scorcher with temperatures predicted to hit 35 in the city and 38 in the west on Tuesday.
A cool change is forecast for Tuesday evening with the chance of thunderstorms, possibly severe, across Sydney in the afternoon.
Showers and cooler weather are predicted for the rest of the week, with Sydney set to stay in the mid to high 20s in the lead-up to Christmas.
Christmas Day is set to be mostly cloudy, with possible showers and storms forecast for most of coastal NSW, including Sydney.
The Bureau of Meteorology has released the official Christmas forecast for Sydney: “Cloudy, with a high chance of showers. Southeasterly winds of 15 to 25 kilometres per hour. A minimum temperature of 19 degrees and maximum temperature of 26 degrees.”
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2023-12-18 21:14:32Z
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