Visibility about 50m at the most. We are house sitting at Berrima NSW, packed up and all ready to move out. The seat of the fire is still 46km away, but the online map of the fires looks like it is suspect. Looks like we will definitely be seeing the new year in and some. Happy new year to you all.
Yes the SSE was good, pushing the smoke back, but had a wind change about 5pm its now NNE. about 10-20 knots. But there is also a sprinkling of rain. They said that the fires were creating their own weather. We shall wait and see, been here about 2 weeks and have been well smoked over that time.
I received a warning from the Victorian Emergency Management group while we were on Raymond Island (near Bairnsdale, East Gippsland), then we left Mallacoota the morning a couple of days ago when the fire later arrived!
We were just so lucky!
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Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
The "Fires near us" the map is a bit vague, but it looks like the fire front is about 15km away. Saturday is tipped to be the big day. The trouble is there is so much fuel around, and the people around theses areas have grown a mix of native and imported trees, which will burn well, The roadsides are covered in dry wood and shrub. We have plans to move out to Mossvale, or high tail it to Canberra.
-- Edited by iana on Friday 3rd of January 2020 09:16:02 AM
Understand you are house sitting but, from experience I would advise hightailing it to Canberra because if they close the Hume for any reason (eg there is a fire at Cootamundra and with westerlies forecast that could act up tomorrow) you won't get out. Please don't leave it too late.
The fireries worked full on until 2 this morning, choppers and fixed wing. Looks like they have set up a containment line about 8-10 km away. Mittagong, Bowral and Berrima (NSW) are in the fire path. The caravan is all packed ready, and just waiting. If we can stay just tonight, we can hand over to the owners, they're coming back early. I think the fire will now be easier to fight now its out of the National park. The wind is from the north at about 10 knots.
Not like this, the scale of these fires is enormous, used to having a view over flat ground, not having the fire front obscured by hills. Anyway, now camped at Moss Vale, not allowed back to the house we were looking after.
Glad you are safe. This message is also applicable to anyone out there who has no experience of active fire grounds.
Please, if you are within 50 - 80 kms of an active fire zone and you have no experience with that situation or actively defending your own home, evacuate early to somewhere safe. It is a very frightening experience. Fire zones create their own weather and I have seen trees and houses more than 10kms away from a fire zone explode and start a whole new fire ground.
