Investigations are continuing into the cause of the bushfire which burnt out 1960 hectares of land around Medowie and Salt Ash between Thursday and Monday.
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NSW Rural Fire Service’s public liaison officer Leanne Bell said early reports that the fire had ignited after strong winds brought down power lines on Richardson Road near Campvale about 12.30pm on Thursday were still under investigation.
“Due to winds gusting at over 100km/h and the extremely dry conditions the fire spread quickly, initially in a south westerly direction before it jumped Medowie Road and headed towards Salt Ash impacting both sides of Richardson Road,” she said.
“The first emergency warning was issued on Thursday afternoon to residents of Salt Ash following the threat that the fire would spread to Marsh Road, while a second emergency warning was issued early Friday to residents of Rookes Road.”
Ms Bell said the winds were so strong on Friday that visiting air tankers could not operate effectively and were forced to be grounded.
“The winds made for a very tricky fire ... making it difficult for fire crews to bring under control.”
The fire caused widespread network outages for Optus customers in Port Stephens on Thursday and Friday.
An Optus spokesperson told the Examiner that the disruptions to mobile call, text and data services was a result of fire damage to a fibre cable located at Campvale, which “subsequently impacted local network towers”.
Road closures along Richardson Road, Medowie Road, Lemon Tree Passage Road and Nelson Bay Road were put in place at alternate times over the two days causing extensive traffic problems until the fire was downgraded late Friday night.
More than 400 firefighters and crews from NSW RFS, Fire and Rescue NSW plus National Parks and Wildlife Services were deployed to Port Stephens from Sydney, the northern coast and Hunter Valley over two gruelling days of unrelenting activity.
“We estimate that up to 300 residential properties and another 300 sheds/outbuildings came under threat and while we are awaiting a building impact analysis, early reports suggest that all but a couple of sheds were saved,” Ms Bell said.
“One of the reasons for the very low number of property loss came down to the fact that many residents had heeded the message and put their bushfire plans to use.
“People who stayed to defend their homes had their pumps, hoses and sprinklers available which made it easier for patrolling fire crews.”
She said that a small number of firefighters had suffered minor injuries, such as smoke inhalation and debris to the eyes.
Ms Bell said that around 40 people attended a public meeting on Sunday afternoon at Salt Ash Community Hall for a briefing on the fires.
“We discussed a number of issues including bushfire plans and hazard reduction, while looking at what worked and what could be improved on,” Ms Bell said.
“There will also be further discussions down the track on things like asset protections zones, which involves fire agencies plus stakeholders such as Port Stephens Council and Hunter Water in cooperation with the community.
“And we will talk again to the residents of Rookes Road to see what else could be done to minimise the risk of bushfire activity in the future.”