This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/10/bushfire-that-razed-homes-in-nsw-town-rappville-may-have-been-deliberately-lit
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Residents still unaccounted for after bushfire razes homes in Rappville, NSW | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| A number of residents are still missing in northern NSW after a bushfire destroyed more than a dozen homes in the Rappville area. | |
| Authorities believe the fire that ripped through the Rappville this week may have been deliberately lit, in what the NSW emergency services minister, David Elliott, has described as a truly “bastard act”. | Authorities believe the fire that ripped through the Rappville this week may have been deliberately lit, in what the NSW emergency services minister, David Elliott, has described as a truly “bastard act”. |
| Superintendent Toby Lindsay won’t say exactly how many people are still unaccounted for. | |
| “We are worried about a number of people,” Lindsey told reporters on Thursday in Rappville where at least 11 homes were lost. | |
| Bushfires in northern New South Wales may have destroyed up to 30 homes | |
| “We always hope for the best but we’ve obviously got to treat it at its worst. We’ve seen the devastation in town. It’s a very large fire and it’s still active.” | |
| Richmond Valley mayor Robert Mustow asked locals to report into authorities. | |
| “We have still got some people missing and the longer that goes on the more concerning it gets,” Mustow said. | |
| “I would ask people, if you’ve vacated your property, please go down to the evacuation centre (and) register,” the mayor told ABC TV. | |
| Mustow said the loss of a local timber mill would hurt 30 employees and have a “big impact on our community”. | |
| NSW police and fire investigators have formed a strike force to determine the cause of the fire. | NSW police and fire investigators have formed a strike force to determine the cause of the fire. |
| “In the absence of any other obvious cause, we always default to being suspicious, and we work through a very thorough process,” the NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons, told the Nine Network. “We’ve got to call it out – it’s a heinous crime, a criminal act.” | “In the absence of any other obvious cause, we always default to being suspicious, and we work through a very thorough process,” the NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons, told the Nine Network. “We’ve got to call it out – it’s a heinous crime, a criminal act.” |
| Across the Busbys Flat and Drake fires - which have joined together in recent days and burned 115,000 hectares - at least 21 homes have been destroyed. Fifteen were in the Rappville area while the remainder were impacted by the Drake blaze. | |
| Further buildings have been damaged but the Rural Fire Service says numbers will rise as more properties are inspected. | Further buildings have been damaged but the Rural Fire Service says numbers will rise as more properties are inspected. |
| Fitzsimmons said 34 bushfires continue to burn across NSW, eight of which remain out of control. However, all fires are currently at an “advice” alert level after a number of emergency warnings were downgraded on Wednesday. | Fitzsimmons said 34 bushfires continue to burn across NSW, eight of which remain out of control. However, all fires are currently at an “advice” alert level after a number of emergency warnings were downgraded on Wednesday. |
| Allan Robertson lost his Rappville home and was left with the clothes he was wearing, his phone and “my worst thongs”. | Allan Robertson lost his Rappville home and was left with the clothes he was wearing, his phone and “my worst thongs”. |
| He said he was uninsured and his partner was in palliative care. | He said he was uninsured and his partner was in palliative care. |
| “It was just like a massive fireball,” he told 10 News. “There was nothing you could do. The heat was horrendous.” | “It was just like a massive fireball,” he told 10 News. “There was nothing you could do. The heat was horrendous.” |
| Another resident, Brayden Leschingkhol, told Seven News it was more like “hell from fire ... not from this world”. | Another resident, Brayden Leschingkhol, told Seven News it was more like “hell from fire ... not from this world”. |
| He became emotional as he recalled calling his mother, who lives in Newcastle, saying: “I told her I love her and basically told her goodbye.” | He became emotional as he recalled calling his mother, who lives in Newcastle, saying: “I told her I love her and basically told her goodbye.” |
| The Brisbane to Sydney rail line has been cut and won’t be operational again for an estimated five days. | |
| NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance tweeted that stretches of the rail line had been damaged and the Rappville rail bridge destroyed. | |
| Bushfires | Bushfires |
| New South Wales | New South Wales |
| news | news |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |