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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/02/it-could-still-turn-relief-shortlived-at-nsw-queensland-border-towns-saved-from-bushfires>
"The lawn outside David Kelly’s home is black. A bushfire on Tuesday evening
consumed almost every blade of grass right up to the Tenterfield house’s
concrete slab. With a bit of luck, and a lot of hard work, the house survived.
It is his second narrow escape in four years; exactly the same thing happened
in 2019, Kelly said. His neighbours, who were burnt out in the black summer,
survived this time unscathed.
While more than 50 houses have been lost to fires in Queensland and northern
New South Wales over the past fortnight, this number could be much higher were
it not for the efforts of fire crews working round the clock.
Just north of Tenterfield, at the border town of Wallangarra-Jennings,
residents feared the worst when authorities issued a warning to seek immediate
shelter on Tuesday afternoon as a fast-moving fire seemed headed for town.
NSW Rural Fire Service Insp Ben Shepherd said about 200 people took cover in a
field as the fire swept into town, because it was safer than in the more
flammable homes.
Firefighters from both states joined forces to battle the blaze. While a NSW
large air tanker and other aircraft bombed the fire from above, firefighters
went from street to street and house by house to defend life and property,
often backed up by local farmer crews.
The town survived with no reported deaths or injuries, prompting effusive
praise from the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, who said crews’
efforts had “saved” the town.
Shepherd agreed the outcome could have been far worse.
“Given how quickly that fire moved towards that town, there is no doubt that
the outcome could have been absolutely terrible, because the fire did basically
sweep straight into town,” he said.
But Palaszczuk’s celebrations almost came too soon – when the wind changed
again on Tuesday night."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
