After a short few days respite, yesterday conditions worsened with a 40°C day and strong dry winds.
The fire fronts across the region sprang into action and there was more property loss and injury.
Sadly the USA crew of a contracted Coulson C-130 large air tanker was killed when the plane crashed while dumping fire retardant on a major blaze in the high country.
We were enveloped in a dust storm for most of the day and then late afternoon were warned that a fire just to the north of us in the National Park had reignited. We had been confident that there was nothing left to burn around us but in the horrific conditions of the day this was not the case. Once again our RFS was on the job and had the fire under control. Thankfully the winds dropped a few hours later and a cool southerly changed arrived just before midnight.
The Currowan Fire and those that it spawned now covers an area of half a million ha.
It has now joined up with a major fire to the south so in total the fire ground on the south coast of New South Wales is 850 million ha (2100 million acres), stretching 220km (140 miles) from Bega to Nowra along the coast and west into and over the Great Dividing Range.
As said before, this environmental, wildlife and human disaster will not be over until we get at least 200mm of rain.
That does not look likely in the near future.
To say we have all had enough of this is an understatement.
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