A number of homes have been lost on the NSW south coast as authorities wait to survey the damage from a large blaze that burned through the night.
The NSW Rural Fire Service has confirmed the loss of properties in the Coolagolite fire but officials were unable to say the exact number or locations as field assessment teams were yet to arrive to undertake a review.
There were no reports of missing people.
Crews were provided some relief when a cool southerly change moved across the fireground, inland from the coastal town of Bermagui, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The threat level for the popular holiday destination and the neighbouring Cuttagee and Barragga Bay was downgraded to watch and act after residents were told on Tuesday it was too late for them to leave.
The bushfire was still burning out of control on Wednesday and spanned an area of more than 5200ha.
Premier Chris Minns said local firefighting crews had been through a tough 24 hours as they worked to protect towns, many of which were full of holidaymakers for the school holidays.
“We’re in October and we’ve found that we’re facing midsummer bushfire conditions in some parts of NSW – it points to a hellish three months,” he told reporters.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would visit the south coast with Mr Minns to talk with those affected by the most recent blazes.
“I feel for those communities as well, they went through such a difficult time in 2019-20 over that Black Summer and many of the areas that were affected by fires then are burning again,” he said.
Early in 2020, Bermagui residents were forced to retreat to the water in preparation for possible evacuation as bushfires surrounded the town in tinderbox conditions.
RFS commissioner Rob Rogers urged residents not to be complacent as the weather cooled since the fire danger remained.
“We know properties were lost, we just don’t know how many and that work will obviously go on this morning,” he told Nine’s Today Show.
“The good news is there are no reports at the moment of anyone missing … but we’ve got to confirm that everybody is OK in those areas because there’s a lot of scattered properties firefighters were struggling to get into.”
The southerly change that moved through the fireground overnight has brought cooler temperatures, increased humidity and some rain.
Evacuation centres in Bega and Narooma remain in place.
Conditions had also improved in many other parts of NSW as crews battled 73 bush and grass fires, 18 of which were yet to be contained, on Wednesday morning.
Total fire bans were in place for the greater Hunter region as well as areas to the north and northwest stretching to the Queensland border.
The Bureau of Meteorology said showers and storms were expected to hit much of the state, although the front was not expected to hit Sydney and areas to the north until the afternoon and evening. A high of 29C is forecast for the state capital, while the mercury could hit 32C in Newcastle and 33C at Gloucester to the north.
Source: AAP
