Illawarra suburbs vanish in smoke haze as 150 firies fight tricky blaze

The fire began in an unexploded ordinance range within the Holsworthy military reserve, Friday morning.

Its position means firefighters aren’t able to directly attack it on the ground or with waterbombing aircraft. 

More than 150 firefighters have now completely surrounding the blaze, forming a 35-kilometre perimetre using existing fire trails. 

Backburning is underway, and crews are dropping incendiaries in a bid to widen the containment lines. 

Matt Reeves, RFS district officer, said no property was under threat but the fire was creating a large amount of smoke which could pose a health hazard, across Darkes Forest, Helensburgh and the Illawarra’s northern suburbs. 

“The smoke’s coming across the escarpment and meeting the cool air from the ocean, then starting to get trapped under that cool air, which is why we’re getting that inversion in those areas,” he said. 

The lack of recent rainfall and the time of year has resulted in a lot of easily ignitable fuel on the fireground, adding to firefighters’ woes.  

“We can’t waterbomb the fire because the pressure of the water dropping can activate unexploded ordinance,” Mr Reeves said. 

“Then, to throw in another complexity, we’re anticipating some gusty wind tomorrow, so we’re really working hard to get this  backburn completed today, so those stronger than normal winds tomorrow don’t  post a risk of the fire expanding beyond the containment line.” 

The RFS is providing updates on its website and via the the Fires Near Me app.