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Australia fires live: NSW, Victoria and SA bushfires rage as PM calls up ADF reserve – latest updates Australia fires live: NSW, Victoria and SA bushfires rage as PM calls up ADF reserve – latest updates
(32 minutes later)
Scott Morrison has called up ADF reservists to help in the bushfire crisis. Two people have died in SA fires on Kangaroo Island, as New South Wales and Victoria face more horrendous conditions. Follow live news and latest updatesScott Morrison has called up ADF reservists to help in the bushfire crisis. Two people have died in SA fires on Kangaroo Island, as New South Wales and Victoria face more horrendous conditions. Follow live news and latest updates
We are getting reports that people are being moved from evacuation centres in Eden, on NSW’s far south coast, towards Merimbula. Fires burning just north of the Victorian border, including the Poole Rd fire, are spreading quickly and emergency warnings have been issued. The southerly change is generally moving those fires on the NSW-Victorian border to the north. Residents in Freeburgh, Harrietville, Smoko, Wandiligong and surrounding areas in Victoria’s north-east are being urged to evacuate to safer locations.
There are multiple bushfires burning in the Abbeyard area that are not yet under control.
Just on that fire now burning through Kangaroo Valley, our photographer Jessica Hromas was on scene near Nowra when the southerly wind hit earlier. She’s filed these shots from the the local rugby club, which is the staging area for emergency services.
The Cuurowan fire on the NSW south coast is now burning in the Kangaroo Valley. The RFS has issued an emergency warning for anyone in the valley, saying they should now seek shelter.
Japanese meteorological satellites have captured an extraordinary time-lapse of smoke drifting eastward from the bushfires covering NSW and Victoria. The animation gives a sense of the scale and movement of the smoke as it shifts into the Tasman.
We mentioned a little earlier *that* party political ad put out by Scott Morrison’s office spruiking their response to the bushfires. The reaction to the video has been, er, less than positive. The Australia Defence Association, a non-partisan defence watchdog and think tank, says the video’s use of military personnel is a clear breach of non-partisanship conventions that restrict the use of the ADF in party political advertisements.
In case that wasn’t enough, British TV presenter Piers Morgan has also taken a swing. And what a swing. He describes the video as “one of the most tone-deaf things I’ve ever seen a country’s leader put out during a crisis”.
It goes from bad to worse for the prime minister.
We are getting reports that people are being moved from evacuation centres in Eden, on NSW’s far south coast, towards Merimbula. Fires burning just north of the Victorian border, including the Poole Road fire, are spreading quickly and emergency warnings have been issued. The southerly change is generally moving those fires on the NSW-Victorian border to the north.
For those in the Canberra, ABC reporter Markus Mannheim has just created a handy map illustrating the city’s bushfire-prone areas. It covers a large chunk of the bush capital.For those in the Canberra, ABC reporter Markus Mannheim has just created a handy map illustrating the city’s bushfire-prone areas. It covers a large chunk of the bush capital.
The ACT has so far avoided the bushfire crisis plaguing much of neighbouring NSW, though the smoke haze has continued to create significant air quality issues. Those in Canberra will keenly remember - as I do - the horrific events of 2003, which were the result of out-of-control fires that burned to the south-west and west of the city for more than a week.The ACT has so far avoided the bushfire crisis plaguing much of neighbouring NSW, though the smoke haze has continued to create significant air quality issues. Those in Canberra will keenly remember - as I do - the horrific events of 2003, which were the result of out-of-control fires that burned to the south-west and west of the city for more than a week.
Fires are worsening in some areas of Victoria. We’ve just seen two emergency warnings issued by Victorian authorities. The first is for Buchan and Buchan South. Authorities say it is now too late to leave. Residents should shelter indoors and activate their bushfire survival plans.Fires are worsening in some areas of Victoria. We’ve just seen two emergency warnings issued by Victorian authorities. The first is for Buchan and Buchan South. Authorities say it is now too late to leave. Residents should shelter indoors and activate their bushfire survival plans.
Another emergency warning was issued for Brookville and Omeo, in the state’s east. It is too late to leave these areas. Residents should shelter indoors immediately.Another emergency warning was issued for Brookville and Omeo, in the state’s east. It is too late to leave these areas. Residents should shelter indoors immediately.
Power outages are continuing across NSW. Ausgrid reports that power is out for some homes in Fletcher and Wallsend, suburbs of Newcastle.Power outages are continuing across NSW. Ausgrid reports that power is out for some homes in Fletcher and Wallsend, suburbs of Newcastle.
A little earlier, it said the outages were affecting 14,000 customers, primarily in Sydney’s north and south-west. But it has since restored power to some areas, including Hornsby, Normanhurst, Bexley North, Campsie, Canterbury and surrounding suburbs.A little earlier, it said the outages were affecting 14,000 customers, primarily in Sydney’s north and south-west. But it has since restored power to some areas, including Hornsby, Normanhurst, Bexley North, Campsie, Canterbury and surrounding suburbs.
Our reporter Helen Davidson was in Nowra a little earlier when that southerly swept through. The conditions precipitating the change were ferocious. It brought strong wind gusts and a sudden change in the sky.Our reporter Helen Davidson was in Nowra a little earlier when that southerly swept through. The conditions precipitating the change were ferocious. It brought strong wind gusts and a sudden change in the sky.
Jessie Davies, an ABC reporter, was also there and posted this footage showing the terrifying conditions.Jessie Davies, an ABC reporter, was also there and posted this footage showing the terrifying conditions.
Bushfire evacuees have begun to arrive in Melbourne after fleeing the devastating bushfires in East Gippsland. They are arriving at a relief centre in Somerville, after being evacuated aboard HMAS Choules. The Navy vessel was was deployed to help the thousands of people stranded in the remote Victorian coastal town of Mallacoota.
Some have a clear message for the federal government.
Authorities in Victoria have just issued an emergency warning for Benambra, The Brothers, Tom Groggin, Uplands. Those fires are near Omeo, 430 kilometres east of Melbourne.
Leaving now is the safest option.
Some extraordinary footage in NSW, where bushfires continue to generate their own weather systems. This vision shows the forming of pyrocumulous clouds above the Currowan fire burning in the Southern Highlands region about an hour ago.
Fitzsimmons has some semblance of good news, at least. We should see conditions ease overnight and tomorrow morning, once this southerly moves through. But we will see conditions worsen later in the week, when temperatures will climb back into the 40s.
It hardly needs saying, but there is of course another total fire ban in NSW tomorrow, despite the slight easing in conditions.
Fitzsimmons has a grim message for what we should expect to find when we wake tomorrow morning. It will only be then that the full extent of the damage is known.
The NSW RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has just given another update on the ABC. He says the southerly change is having a complicated impact on active fires across the state.
Scott Morrison has heard some pretty frank views from those on the ground in recent days about his response to the bushfire crisis.
Perhaps none as direct as this, though. An RFS member in Nelligen, just north of Batemans Bay on the hard hit NSW South Coast, pulled up to a news crew on the side of the road, leaned out the window, and told the prime minister to “go and get fucked”. Vision is below.
Global superstar Pink has offered $500,000 to Australian fire services battling bushfires on the frontline. Pink said she was “devastated” at the horrific bushfires tearing across Australia. It’s a pretty extraordinary gesture. She’s also encouraged her millions of fans to donate too.
Some good news out of Victoria. The bushfire around Dargo and Tabberabbera, in the state’s east, has been downgraded from emergency warning to watch and act, after conditions eased.
The RFS is reporting that southerly change is causing wind gusts of up to 75km/h near Nowra.
It has warned the change will push many fires generally in a more northerly direction. It will create dangerous conditions.