Winds and soaring temperatures are creating extreme conditions across the South Coast, with almost every coastal town from near Nowra down to the Victorian border affected by emergency fires.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Fire is moving aggressively across the South Coast and there are reports of multiple properties being alight.
Thousands of South Coast residents and visitors have crowded evacuation centres and fled to beaches.
As residents and visitors contend with the fire danger, there are almost 18,000 properties without power across the South Coast.
The towns of Cobargo and Mogo have been heavily impacted, according to NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.
As of 12:30pm on Tuesday morning there were four fires on the south coast at emergency warnings and eight altogether across the state.
Fires between Bermagui and Narooma were burning at such ferocity that a fire-generated thunderstorm was formed. These fires headed towards Bermagui on Tuesday morning with residents and visitors fleeing to the beach.
The Clyde Mountain fire has also escalated and people in Batemans Bay, Malua Bay and Surf Beach have been warned by text message to seek shelter
The evacuation point at the Hanging Rock Sports Club Function Centre in Batemans Bay was full on Tuesday morning after hundreds evacuated.
There was reports on Tuesday morning of a spot fires near the Bateman's Bay evacuation point.
Mr Allan said the RFS had received multiple reports that structures had been impacted near Batemans Bay.
As of 12:30pm on Tuesday this was the situation for fires burning on the South Coast:
- Clyde Mountain fire: Emergency warning. RFS advised residents in Buckenbowra, Runnyford, Nelligen and coastal areas east of the Princes Highway from Batemans Bay to Broulee that it was too late to leave.
- Badja Forest Road fire: Emergency warning. Those in the area of Bermagui, Regatta Point, Wallaga Lake and Wallaga Lake Heights it is too late to leave, seek shelter as the fire approaches. Those in Cobargo of Coolagolite leave now towards Bermagui.
- Big Belimba Creek fire: Emergency warning. Those in the area of Nerrigungah, Tinpot, Cadgee, Eurobodalla, Tulinjah, Comerang and Bodalla were in danger and were urged to act now. Leaving towards Moruya was the safest option.
- Currowan fire: Emergency warning. It is too late to leave areas south of Nowra and west of the Princes Highway. Fire activity has increased in the areas of Yatte Yattah, Lake Conjola, Cunjurong, Manyana, Bendalong and Fishermans Paradise. It is too late to leave these areas.
- Charleys Forest fire: Watch and act level. A strong southerly change could impact the fireground this morning. There is active fires in the area of Oallen Road, Nerriga Road and Charleys Forest Road areas, Tudor Valley Road area, Reidsdale area and Forest area and South of Monga Lane.
The fires have spurred the NSW RFS to issue and alert on social media that seven dangerous fires between Batemans Bay and the Victorian border posed a "serious threat to life".
Mr Allan said the general advice for those between Batemans Bay and the Victorian border was to take shelter towards the coast if it was safe to do so.
Canberran David Shearer was at Long Beach, north of Batemans Bay where large clouds of smoke filled the air. He said flaming debris was falling from the sky.
The RFS has warned there was a chance coastal towns such as Batemans Bay, Ulladulla and Nowra could come under an ember attack on Tuesday.
Conditions for the fires are forecast to worsen with a wind change this afternoon that could cause fire behaviour to become "erratic", Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Abrar Shabren said.
Winds on Tuesday morning were blowing in a north westerly direction with a front from the Tasman Sea expected to push winds in a south and south easterly direction.
"With that change coming in, that can affect fire behaviour and the make the fire behaviour quite erratic," Mr Shabren said.
"That wind change can increase the head of the fire or the fire wall so that can be quite problematic."
Fires have forced a number of road closures. On Monday one of the last remaining routes from the South Coast to Canberra was closed with the Snowy Mountains Highway near Bega.
It is closed from both directions between the Monaro Highway and the Princes Highway.
The Princes Highway was closed in both directions between Batemans Bay and Moruya. It was also closed further south between Cobargo and Brogo.
NSW's Transport Management Centre also warned the Princes Highway between Nowra and Batemans Bay could close at any time today.
People have been asked to avoid all non-essential travel.
Check Fires Near Me, Live Traffic and the Bureau of Meteorology for information.
Lucy Bladen
Lucy Bladen has been a journalist at The Canberra Times since 2019. She is an ACT politics and health reporter. Email: l.bladen@canberratimes.com.au
Lucy Bladen has been a journalist at The Canberra Times since 2019. She is an ACT politics and health reporter. Email: l.bladen@canberratimes.com.au
