Marisa Quintana, a resident of the state’s Central West, had never seen a fire near her home until the Tambaroora fire swept through the town of Hargraves on Tuesday. While she sheltered inside with her dogs, her husband joined the firefighters outside.
Although the threat has passed for Quintana, emergency fire conditions are still present in the region, with the Alpha Road fire at Tambaroora upgraded to an emergency warning level after burning through over 2000 hectares. Currently, 36 fires are burning across New South Wales, and 17 are out of control.
On Monday, Sydney experienced its warmest March nights in six years, with temperatures expected to remain high until Wednesday.
Meteorologist Steph Spackman predicted that a southerly change on Wednesday evening will reduce temperatures for Sydney to the high-20s on Wednesday and 25 on Thursday, while Western Sydney will remain in the low 30s on Wednesday and around 28 degrees the following day.
Despite the slight easing in conditions, the NSW Rural Fire Service remains concerned about the fire risk, with total fire bans issued for eight regions, including Bathurst, Lithgow, Cessnock, Newcastle, and Narrabri.
On Tuesday afternoon, NSW RFS Inspector Ben Shepherd explained that the emergency warning upgrade to the Tambaroora fire still meant heightened fire risk, as the fire had entered thick bushland and was moving quickly and spotting ahead of itself.
He added that the cool change expected on Wednesday would reduce the fire danger, but concerns remained for the rest of the season given how much grass growth there has been in recent years.
»Marisa Quintana experiences fire invasion in Hargraves«
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