Newcastle airport is one of Australia’s largest regional airports situated 200 Km north of Sydney.
A wildfire started on Saturday and the efforts of Firefighters kept the fire contained. Unfortunately, strong winds built and did not let up on Sunday making controlling the blaze impossible.
Originally a single fire, it travelled quickly east towards Newcastle airport, before it split into two fire fronts. Almost 2,000 hectares have been burnt out and Newcastle airport, which was closed on Saturday afternoon, remained closed into Sunday morning.
The Rural Fire Service said the firefighters on the scene were assisted by waterbombing aircraft, including the very large air tanker Nancy Bird. On Sunday evening there were still concerns about the strong winds, and fire crews said, “they would continue to monitor the situation”.
By Monday morning the Rural Fire Service advised that fire activity continued to subside.
At the height of the fire residents around Tomago, Williamtown and Raymond Terrace had been told to take shelter after the NSW Rural Fire Service issued an emergency warning for the blaze which was threatening homes all weekend.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
For more information about NSW Rural Fire Service, visit: www.rfs.nsw.gov.au
Picture for illustration purposes, from the Editor’s collection.
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