Sydney bushfires

[Onestepmore]

I'm crossing my fingers the Grose Valley walking area in the Blue Mountains escapes burning. So much has been burned already.

And good luck and stay safe for all those who live in fire affected areas

I'm having a quiet chuckle to myself as I had planned to walk the Six Foot Track this Thurs to Sat. Definitely postponed that little idea! We have friends staying here whose house in Yanderra is at risk, and keeping some dogs safe in hubby's vet clinic. Thumbs up to all the firies and ancillary helpers. Great job!

[icefest]

I'm worried about the rest of summer:

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/updates/a ... cord.shtml

[GPSGuided]

I'm worried about the rest of summer...

It's only mid/late Oct! Don't recall fires this fierce this early in the season. What will Dec/Jan/Feb bring?

[icefest]

and ENSO is hardly negative. Imagine how bad the next el nino will be..

EDIT: BOM will be releasing their ENSO update today.

[perfectlydark]

Hopefully this will reduce any severe fire incidents actually IN summer this year, at least for thise areas already affected. This is going to be a rough few months and im seriously considering hanging the boots up until autumn to be on the safe side

[Giddy_up]

The modelling for the future does not look promising.


http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/moni ... .small.png

[GPSGuided]

Giddy, don't tell PD that or his boots may not come down for a lot longer than he anticipated!

[Giddy_up]

Giddy, don't tell PD that or his boots may not come down for a lot longer than he anticipated!

PD will have to change location until winter, go further south and gain some elevation to avoid the heat. Or buy fire retardant boots to walk in

It sure is going to be a difficult period for NSW over the coming months though it seems.

[perfectlydark]

Lol! Early retirement it is then

[icefest]

Sooo... who wants to do the Franklands this summer?

[Rob Gosford]

I'm worried about the rest of summer:

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/updates/a ... cord.shtml

(man made) climate-change propaganda ......




.

[icefest]

I'ts unlikely but possible to have a 12 month mean like that without climate change.

[wildwalks]

Due to the current fire emergency NSW NPWS have said:

"all national parks have been closed across the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area and in the Port Stephens and Dungog areas until further notice.
Some roads and commercial precincts will remain open."

(this obviously includes the Blue Mountains)
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/Natio ... osure.aspx

Matt

[perfectlydark]

Fair call given the circumstances

[GPSGuided]

Don't recall they have ever done this in the past. Not unreasonable given the current circumstance. Fingers crossed.

[Isis]

Anybody know if the area that the Wollemi
Pines is effected ?

[perfectlydark]

I would guess its in the shutdown zone, not sure if its been affected by fires as yet

[ULWalkingPhil]

Its been happening a lot up here in QLD for the past few years. Any hint of a storm, wind, rain or heat our national parks are closed.

My last two planned overnight hikes canceled two days before leaving due to warm weather by the parks service.

Best of luck to those at the Blue Mountains today.

[forest]

Ah I just spotted the closure, Darn for me as I was planning a little venture down on the GNW at Girrakool tomorrow.
Will see how things progress overnight.

Fingers crossed for anyone in a fire effected zone and goodluck today.

[perfectlydark]

In regards to Wollemi, park is closed south of capertee river, im not very familiar of the area but if the pines are south of there, then they are closed

[Rob Gosford]

Don't recall they have ever done this in the past. Not unreasonable given the current circumstance. Fingers crossed.

hi GPS
i recall it was early January this year that the NPs were closed in the Hunter region. the temperature was forecasted for that saturday/sunday to be 42C. had planned a walk just south of Newcastle so i cancelled that till the next weekend.

a good decision by the NSW NP then and now i reckon.

[GPSGuided]

Thanks Rob. But aren't they closing all the NPs across the state this time? Do you or anyone recall closures to this scale in the past? Nothing wrong with being cautious.

[perfectlydark]

Not quite across the whole state, at this point its all in the greater sydney area, central coast, hunter, dungog, port macquarie area (maybe some.more). Still be some open but this is major and covers a good.chuck of the popular parks for sure

[Allchin09]

I think the decision to close so many NPs in NSW is two fold.

It keeps people away from areas that could be affected by fire.

It also means that there shouldn't be any people need rescuing due to things unrelated to the fires (like broken legs or snake bites) from NPs, allowing our emergency service people to focus on managing the problems associated with the fires.

[perfectlydark]

Precicely. Safety and preserving resources. Cant fault the decision myself

[Allchin09]

Does anyone know which bushwalking areas have been burnt?

[Grabeach]

Go to http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au Select "Current Fires and Incidents". This shows all fires in NSW on a Google Earth map. If you keep zooming in, you'll find the burnt areas are shaded in the Map View and as a line in the Satellite View. Seems to be updated every couple of hours. This is probably as good as you'll get at this stage.

[Rob Gosford]

This is probably as good as you'll get at this stage.

thanks for that link and explanation Grabeach. well done !

looks like the Blue Mts residents have (so far) got through today's battle. And good on the Fieries !

[Rob Gosford]

Does anyone know which bushwalking areas have been burnt?

yep, the Great North Walk >>>> 7 YEARS AGO !

On New Year's Day 2006 a sunday morning, a fire started in Brisbane Water NP Central Coast on a day exactly like we have had today. Boiling hot, STRONG nor-westerly winds. The winds in the afternoon drove the now escalating bushfire towards homes at Umina Heights here on the Central Coast. At about 5pm a forecasted "southerly buster" (remember them ?) turned the massive bushfire around on its heels (saving Umina) and headed NORTH into the guts of BWNP eating everything in its path, including Staples Lookout. At about 8PM with the southerly buster still howling, it arrived at (almost) the southern boundry of Kariong near Bambara Rd. 100 Fieries armed themselves on Woy Woy Rd as the red wall approached. Suddenly the wind dropped, it calmed and the wall stopped just short of the Fire Control Center! Metal BWNP signs on Woy Woy Rd just south of Kariong melted. The fire at midnight was contained.

anyway, 2 months later, i went for a hike out to Mt Wondabyne in BWNP and was gobsmacked by the "moonscape" left by that fire. Here are some photos.....

approaching a scorched Mt Wondabyne, from Thommos Loop



heading towards Mt.Wondabyne on the single track inbetween Thommos Loop and Mullett Creek Firetrail.



solid steel marker on the summit of Mt Wondabyne.



view west over burnt out terrain



viewing east towards Woy Woy tip and ocean with the GNW below



its the nature of Australia......drought, floods, 'n fire.

[perfectlydark]

Wow thanks rob! Im surprised the survey marker was fixed. Are they even used anymore?