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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Christopher Knaus, Katharine Murphy and Luke Henriques-Gomes

Australian blazes rage as PM calls up ADF reserve – as it happened

The current state of play

As we near 11.30pm (AEDT), the situation remains fluid and dangerous across parts of NSW and Victoria.

Here’s what we know so far:

  • More than 150 fires continue to burn across NSW. Authorities had issued emergency alerts for 10 of those bushfires, down from 13 earlier in the evening. Of most concern are fires burning on the NSW South Coast, including near Nowra and Eden. Out-of-control fires were also causing significant concerns in the Snowy Mountains and the Southern Highlands.
  • Early reports suggest the loss of homes in the Snowies. Properties are also currently under threat in the Southern Highlands and on the South Coast. Details of the damage remain sketchy and the full extent of the damage will likely not be known until the morning.
  • In Victoria, about 50 fires continue to burn, mostly in the state’s north-east and alpine area. Emergency warnings were active for 12 of those fires at 11pm. There was some good news earlier in the day when authorities revised the number of missing persons from 28 to six.
  • A southerly change that moved up the east coast complicated conditions at firegrounds across the two states significantly this evening. The change brought with it wind gusts of up to 90km/h and shifted the direction of the fires, moving them generally northward and creating new fronts for firefighters to grapple with. Fires were behaving erratically, generating their own weather systems and thunder storms.
  • In South Australia, there were two confirmed fatalities on Kangaroo Island, with the blaze also wiping out much of the national park. The death toll stands at 23.
  • Scott Morrison yet again drew criticism for releasing a party political ad that spruiked his government’s response to the bushfires. The Australia Defence Association said the ad was a clear breach of conventions that prevent the military from being used for political advertisements.
  • Significant power outages were experienced across NSW and Victoria. Authorities urged residents to reduce their energy demand wherever possible to ease the load on the grid.

We will return to our live coverage early tomorrow morning, when the scale of the damage from this evening’s fires will be made clear.

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RFS volunteers and NSW Fire and Rescue officers fight a bushfire encroaching on properties near Termeil on the Princes Highway between Batemans Bay and Ulladulla. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

Updated

An emergency warning has been issued for the area north of the Shoalhaven River. Authorities advise it is too late to leave if you are in Bundanoon, Wingello, Penrose, Meryla and surrounding areas. Residents should seek shelter.

Updated

Significant effort to protect Eden

The fire moving up from the Victorian border has prompted a significant response to try to protect Eden. Firefighters are doorknocking to tell people to move to the town’s north, if they haven’t already left.

Rogers said:

People will be moved to north of Eden. People should stay there, whoever is left there, because the road out of Eden north is quite compromised by heavy timber, so the last thing we want is people caught on that road

We have a lot of fire trucks sending in their and we will do our best to protect those homes and people.

Updated

Property losses in Snowies, southern highlands

We’ve just had an update from the NSW RFS. They are reporting property losses in the Snowy Mountains and southern highlands. There are also serious concerns for Eden after fires moved north quickly from the Victoria-NSW border.

RFS deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said there still 10 emergency warnings for fires across the state.

It will be a very long night for firefighters and the residents in the path of these fires.

Updated

Nowra, on the NSW south coast, is in for a long night.

We’ve just heard reports from the emergency services radio that a water tower reservoir has burst in Cooma, flooding homes, washing away cars and causing property damage. There’s no information yet on whether there are injuries.

Updated

My last report from Nowra had the divisional commander reporting the southerly would hit about 9pm-9.30pm. It showed up about 7pm.

The sky changed to dark, deep, brown and the wind roared in through the very tall and thick forest where we are, whipping up dirt and ash and smoke.

Strike teams rushed to Milton down south. A short time later there were intakes of breath as a team was told they were going to Kangaroo Valley.

Kangaroo Valley is now under serious threat from the Currowan fire.

Earlier today, one firefighter described to me their strategy for the day: we can’t stop the fire, so we’re just trying to direct it as best we can. Strike teams were sent across the state on Saturday, moved around like chess pieces against an opponent that’s ignoring all the rules.

A short time ago I heard from the group who stayed to defend their places at Longreach. That southerly came just in time to push the fire away from them. But as we keep encountering out in these fires, the relief is pretty tainted for people by the fact that a fire moving away from them means it’s moving towards someone else instead.

Updated

The ACT has declared a total fire ban again tomorrow and issued a “state of alert” for the territory. The state of alert effectively puts the ACT government on a ready footing to respond to bushfire threats. The government is also encouraging residents to develop their bushfire plans, if they have them.

'Plain wrong': ADA attacks Scott Morrison's bushfires ad

Neil James, head of the Australia Defence Association, has explained why he believes Scott Morrison’s ad spruiking his response to the bushfires breaches non-partisan conventions involving the military. He told Guardian Australia:

It’s simple. You don’t use the defence force for party political advantage.

They put out a media release giving people all the information so you have to ask yourself what the purpose of the ad is, and the purpose is clearly party political advantage. And that is just plain wrong.

James said it was critical that the ADF was allowed to remain completely independent and non-partisan.

The defence force needs to be professionally and institutionally non partisan and for that to work the politicians have to respect it.

We’ve complained about this before. It usually happens during election campaigns.

Emergency warning for Eden

More grim news for the region around Eden on the far south coast. The bushfire burning on the Victoria-NSW border has moved north and is now threatening towns. The RFS has issued an emergency warning for Womboyn, Kiah, Narrabarba, Towamba, Burragate, Eden and surrounds. The RFS has warned it is now too late to leave these areas. Residents are at risk. They should seek shelter as the fire approaches.

Updated

Images are continuing to filter in from around Nowra, where the Currowan fire continues to burn out of control. The fire is more than 264,000 hectares in size and the opportunity to leave has now ceased for all areas between Nowra and Kiola east of the Princes Highway. Residents in those areas are advised to seek shelter as the fire approaches.

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Rural Fire Service personnel at a roadblock near a bushfire in north Nowra. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
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A Rural Fire Service strike team near a bushfire in north Nowra. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
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Rural Fire Service personnel at a roadblock near a bushfire in north Nowra. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Residents in Freeburgh, Harrietville, Smoko, Wandiligong and surrounding areas in Victoria’s north-east are being urged to evacuate to safer locations.

There are multiple bushfires burning in the Abbeyard area that are not yet under control.

Just on that fire now burning through Kangaroo Valley, our photographer Jessica Hromas was on scene near Nowra when the southerly wind hit earlier. She’s filed these shots from the the local rugby club, which is the staging area for emergency services.

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Updated

Emergency warning for Kangaroo Valley

The Cuurowan fire on the NSW south coast is now burning in the Kangaroo Valley. The RFS has issued an emergency warning for anyone in the valley, saying they should now seek shelter.

Japanese meteorological satellites have captured an extraordinary time-lapse of smoke drifting eastward from the bushfires covering NSW and Victoria. The animation gives a sense of the scale and movement of the smoke as it shifts into the Tasman.

Morrison ad a 'clear breach' of non-partisan military conventions

We mentioned a little earlier *that* party political ad put out by Scott Morrison’s office spruiking their response to the bushfires. The reaction to the video has been, er, less than positive. The Australia Defence Association, a non-partisan defence watchdog and think tank, says the video’s use of military personnel is a clear breach of non-partisanship conventions that restrict the use of the ADF in party political advertisements.

In case that wasn’t enough, British TV presenter Piers Morgan has also taken a swing. And what a swing. He describes the video as “one of the most tone-deaf things I’ve ever seen a country’s leader put out during a crisis”.

It goes from bad to worse for the prime minister.

We are getting reports that people are being moved from evacuation centres in Eden, on NSW’s far south coast, towards Merimbula. Fires burning just north of the Victorian border, including the Poole Road fire, are spreading quickly and emergency warnings have been issued. The southerly change is generally moving those fires on the NSW-Victorian border to the north.

Updated

For those in the Canberra, ABC reporter Markus Mannheim has just created a handy map illustrating the city’s bushfire-prone areas. It covers a large chunk of the bush capital.

The ACT has so far avoided the bushfire crisis plaguing much of neighbouring NSW, though the smoke haze has continued to create significant air quality issues. Those in Canberra will keenly remember - as I do - the horrific events of 2003, which were the result of out-of-control fires that burned to the south-west and west of the city for more than a week.

Fires are worsening in some areas of Victoria. We’ve just seen two emergency warnings issued by Victorian authorities. The first is for Buchan and Buchan South. Authorities say it is now too late to leave. Residents should shelter indoors and activate their bushfire survival plans.

Another emergency warning was issued for Brookville and Omeo, in the state’s east. It is too late to leave these areas. Residents should shelter indoors immediately.

Power outages are continuing across NSW. Ausgrid reports that power is out for some homes in Fletcher and Wallsend, suburbs of Newcastle.

A little earlier, it said the outages were affecting 14,000 customers, primarily in Sydney’s north and south-west. But it has since restored power to some areas, including Hornsby, Normanhurst, Bexley North, Campsie, Canterbury and surrounding suburbs.

Our reporter Helen Davidson was in Nowra a little earlier when that southerly swept through. The conditions precipitating the change were ferocious. It brought strong wind gusts and a sudden change in the sky.

Jessie Davies, an ABC reporter, was also there and posted this footage showing the terrifying conditions.

Bushfire evacuees have begun to arrive at relief centres after fleeing the devastating bushfires in East Gippsland. They are arriving at a relief centre in Somerville, after being evacuated aboard HMAS Choules. The Navy vessel was was deployed to help the thousands of people stranded in the remote Victorian coastal town of Mallacoota.

Some have a clear message for the federal government.

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Updated

Authorities in Victoria have just issued an emergency warning for Benambra, The Brothers, Tom Groggin, Uplands. Those fires are near Omeo, 430 kilometres east of Melbourne.

Leaving now is the safest option.

Some extraordinary footage in NSW, where bushfires continue to generate their own weather systems. This vision shows the forming of pyrocumulous clouds above the Currowan fire burning in the Southern Highlands region about an hour ago.

Fitzsimmons has some semblance of good news, at least. We should see conditions ease overnight and tomorrow morning, once this southerly moves through. But we will see conditions worsen later in the week, when temperatures will climb back into the 40s.

For example in western Sydney, the indications from the bureau are that the western Sydney weather station today is likely to break high temperature records.

I know - there’s a lot of fire fatigue if you like. What we can’t afford to have is people becoming complacent and thinking behind all this intensity today that things are OK because they’re certainly not. We are going to have thousands of kilometres of fire edge that needs to be dealt with over the coming week or so.

It hardly needs saying, but there is of course another total fire ban in NSW tomorrow, despite the slight easing in conditions.

Updated

Fitzsimmons has a grim message for what we should expect to find when we wake tomorrow morning. It will only be then that the full extent of the damage is known.

I should say, too, across those firezones we are getting reports of significant damage and destruction that are starting to come in with reports of property impact and properties burning in a number of these different fireground locations, given the speed and ferocity at which these fires are burning, and I think we do, unfortunately, need to be ready, probably tomorrow morning, once we start getting an indication of what that level of damage and impact might have been throughout this afternoon and, indeed, over the coming hours into this evening.

The NSW RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has just given another update on the ABC. He says the southerly change is having a complicated impact on active fires across the state.

This southerly change is somewhat complex because you’ve got this coastal buster that is moving up and it has got so far north as, say, Shoalhaven, but we are only seeing the south-westerly aspect of that, or if you like the change effect across the ranges, across the high country and the southern slopes south-west of the ACT, for example. It is only just starting to move through and it is going to take many, many hours to move through those firegrounds.

So we need people to remain very vigilant. We’ve still got a very, very dry landscape. We’ve got very aggressive fire behaviour, and it is very easily influenced by the direction and speed of these winds, and it will be many hours, once the front goes through, before we can start seeing the weather conditions settle down.

Scott Morrison has heard some pretty frank views from those on the ground in recent days about his response to the bushfire crisis.

Perhaps none as direct as this, though. An RFS member in Nelligen, just north of Batemans Bay on the hard hit NSW South Coast, pulled up to a news crew on the side of the road, leaned out the window, and told the prime minister to “go and get fucked”. Vision is below.

Updated

Global superstar Pink has offered $500,000 to Australian fire services battling bushfires on the frontline. Pink said she was “devastated” at the horrific bushfires tearing across Australia. It’s a pretty extraordinary gesture. She’s also encouraged her millions of fans to donate too.

Updated

Some good news out of Victoria. The bushfire around Dargo and Tabberabbera, in the state’s east, has been downgraded from emergency warning to watch and act, after conditions eased.

The RFS is reporting that southerly change is causing wind gusts of up to 75km/h near Nowra.

It has warned the change will push many fires generally in a more northerly direction. It will create dangerous conditions.

Reporter Helen Davidson is just south of Nowra. That southerly change sweeping up the NSW coast has just hit. The wind gusts are fierce. The vision is scary.

Mike Bowers and Michael McGowan are still out near the fire front at the Snowies, near Adaminaby. They report the fire has broken out of the National Park along the Yaouk Road, to the town’s north.

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Just a little more on the power outages in NSW. The extreme heat conditions are causing power outages across NSW, including parts of Sydney. In Hornsby and Normanhurst, power outages are expected to last until about 8pm.

Crews are also working to restore power in Bexley North and Kingsgrove, Campsie, Canterbury and Earlwood.

Authorities are strongly advising residents to avoid unnecessary power use. Do you need your air conditioning on full bore? Is your pool pump operating unnecessarily? It’s time to start thinking about how you can reduce demand on the grid.

Hi everyone, it’s Christopher Knaus here taking over our live coverage for the evening.

It will be a nervous night, particularly for those on the NSW South Coast and in the Snowy Mountains region, where, in some places, the vast, out-of-control bushfires have blackened the sky hours before nightfall.

The NSW RFS incident map paints a terrifying picture as we head into the night.

There are roughly 150 fires burning across NSW. Thirteen emergency warnings have been issued for fires, largely on the NSW south coast, but also for the Dunns Road and East Ournie Creek fires in the Snowy Valleys. The vast Green Wattle Creek fire is threatening to creep towards towns in the southern highlands, including Mittagong, as well as Wombeyan Caves, Bullio, Joadja and surrounding areas.

A southerly change continues to move slowly up the NSW coast, bringing with it strong wind gusts - forecast to reach up to 90km/h - and considerable uncertainty as fire fronts shift and change. The southerly most recently reached the Ulladulla and Jervis Bay regions. Early reports suggest the winds have not been as strong as first feared.

In Victoria, about 53 fires continue to burn this evening, particularly in Gippsland region. In Corryong, reports suggest that homes have been lost. That fire continues to cause considerable concern, as do fires in Mount Buffalo, Mount Hotham, and East Gippsland.

We still have reporters and photographers across the worst hit areas to bring you up to speed on the latest developments. Stay with us.

Taking stock of the latest developments

It’s been a big day, with a challenging night to come.

Tammy Macintosh throws a bucket of water on a log burning behind her house in St Georges Basin, South Coast, NSW, Australia, 4 January 2020. The area has been given the seek shelter or evacuate warning.
Tammy Macintosh throws a bucket of water on a log burning behind her house in St Georges Basin, South Coast, NSW, Australia, 4 January 2020. The area has been given the seek shelter or evacuate warning. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Let’s take stock.

There were two confirmed fatalities on Kangaroo Island, with the blaze also wiping out much of the national park.

Substantial fires continue to burn in NSW and Victoria, and authorities warn conditions tonight remain dangerous. Fire thunderstorms have formed both on the south coast and the Snowy. There could also be power disruptions because of damage to substations in the Snowy region. Authorities have requested people take pressure off the system when they can by reducing demand, otherwise there could be load shedding – a challenging request given record temperatures in Canberra and sweltering conditions in Sydney.

In Victoria, the number of fatalities remains at two, and six people are missing, revised down from 28.

Scott Morrison – who has been criticised for lacking the requisite leadership in the crisis – called out the ADF reserve, and changed the posture of the Commonwealth’s emergency response to be more forward leaning. The government deployed defence assets and funded more water bombers to assist the containment exercise. He also found time to put together an advertisement.

Thanks to colleagues in the field today: the two Mikes McGowan and Bowers, Helen Davidson and Jessica Hromas, Luke Henriques-Gomes in Victoria and Ben Doherty in Sydney, and to the news production team in Sydney.

Please follow advice and stay safe. Please. Stay connected and follow instructions from authorities that could save your life. I’ll go back to hosing the dehydrated magpies. Over to Chris Knaus for the night shift.

A man sweeps any leaves off the roof of his house to try and prepare for the on coming fires in St Georges Basin, South Coast, NSW, Australia, 4 January 2020. The area has been told to “seek shelter as fire approaches” warning from the NSWRFS
A man sweeps any leaves off the roof of his house to try and prepare for the on coming fires in St Georges Basin, South Coast, NSW, Australia, 4 January 2020. The area has been told to “seek shelter as fire approaches” warning from the NSWRFS Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Back to Nowra. Mark Coombes, NSW Fire and Rescue’s divisional commander for the north recently addressed a new shift of firefighters here. “Right here we are the meat in the sandwich, so thanks for coming down.”

Around Nowra and further south, dozens of new fires sparked this afternoon. On the Princes Highway huge, dark columns of smoke were on the horizon in every direction. The road is closed south of Jervis Bay road, so we wound our way through the bushland between Jervis Bay and the highway, towards Bewong.

The Currowan fire jumped the Shoalhaven river earlier this afternoon near Illaroo farm, with flames more than 20m into the air.

At St George’s basin residents who stayed behind are in gardens and on roofs, hosing down houses and trees as text messages come through warning everyone from Nowra to Kiola about 90km south to take shelter. The enormous flank of the Currowan fire, and related blazes, is moving east. At its northern end, near Nowra, the fire generated its own thunderstorm.

The southerly change, due around nine or nine thirty with 80 km/h gusts to enrage the fires, isn’t even here yet.

“Fire intensity is going to be right up there, very comparable to what’s been happening today on this side of it”, said Coombes.

“There’s been a bit of information from the north side of the river of flame heights around 40 metres.”

The fire was recently behind Tomerong, and they are worried that if the fire gets on the eastern side of the highway there will be serious problems with protecting property.

Updated

That’s the guts of Victoria. I’m going to hand over shortly to my colleague Chris Knaus to take you through tonight, but before I do that, Helen Davidson has an update, and I will post a summary. Hang five.

The ADF says at this stage, it has not been able to conduct fixed wing sorties into Mallacoota due to smoke impeding the air operations. Hopefully that will happen tomorrow, and people will be able to be evacuated by air. “In the meantime, as soon as our rotary wing helicopter assets are relieved of tasks such as evacuating people from Omeo, they will return to the more logistics and support tasks, for example taking stores into Mallacoota.”

Updated

There is a change expected at midnight, but the Victorian authorities say the risk remains significant. Looking ahead to tomorrow, the high risk areas remain Corryong, Buffalo, Bright, Hotham and Dinner Plain.

Reporters check. Just to confirm, the number of fatalities remains at two? “Correct”. And six missing. “Yes, that’s correct, still at two, and now the good news is about the six – the number being greatly reduced. However, as the chief commissioner has previously pointed out it is fairly fluid as to how those numbers might move.”

Updated

The commissioner says the service has undertaken more than 1,000 assessments in relation to properties. He says at this stage, there’s been about 110 property losses, and about more than 220 outbuildings. “But this is just the start in relation to the initial impact work that we need to do. There’s still many, many communities that we’ve not been able to really get into and do a proper assessment.”

Updated

Working through specifics.

  • The fire commissioner says there has been significant fire activity around Corryong today, and some property losses on the outskirts of town. He says it is still 41C in Corryong.
  • At Mount Buffalo, “we’ve had a going fire there, we’ve had a significant column on that fire and we still do”. He says there has been some spotting to the east into some valleys which are south of Bright, “so we are doing what we can but keeping a very close eye on that particular fire and the potential impact into those valleys”.
  • There’s a significant fire at Mount Hotham. “That fire, there has been a fire fairly close to Dinner Plain as a result of that fire, and at the moment we’ve had CFA working in protection of Dinner Plain. They’ve moved back to Mount Hotham itself.” He says over the next few hours we could see some losses into Dinner Plain, and that same fire has also been running down towards Omeo.
  • He says further into East Gippsland, there were two significant columns on a fire at Cann River. “Again, we understand those there have been again well-protected. However, we believe there will be potential property losses in the area of Cann River.”

Updated

The Victorian fire commissioner says the situation as of right now is this: Today we’ve had 73 new fires start. So at the moment we have 53 going fires across the state, with the vast majority of those in the eastern part of the state. At the moment, we have 13 emergency warnings, four watch and acts, and three evacuate now.

Updated

The premier says it’s been a challenging day, but the challenges have been eased considerably by people following instructions from authorities.

A sliver of good news from the Victorian premier tonight: number of people not accounted for down to six

The Victorian premier, Dan Andrews, has some good news tonight. He’s providing an update now.

Dan Andrews:

Off the top, can I indicate some good news – I will come to some challenges in a moment, but can I indicate, in some good news, a number of people across East Gippsland that were previously missing and couldn’t be accounted for have been found.

I can’t tell you how pleased we all are to be able to report that we’ve gone from 28 to 21 – and it is now down to six people who cannot be accounted for.

Let’s take stock of conditions in Victoria by recapping the updates and alerts. There hasn’t been a central update from the premier and emergency management authorities for some hours. Apparently that will happen soon. In the interim.

An Emergency Warning is being issued for Bendoc, Bendoc North, Bendoc Upper, Bonang, Buldah, Cabanandra, Club Terrace, Combienbar, Deddick Valley, Delegate River, Dellicknora, Errinundra, Goongerah, Haydens Bog, Nurran, Roaring Camp, Tubbut, Yalmy. It is now too late to leave. This fire is threatening homes and lives.

An Emergency Warning is being issued for Castleburn, Cobbannah, Cowa, Crooked River, Dargo, Grant, Shepherdson, Tabberabbera, Talbotville, Waterford, Wongungarra, Treasures. There are large bushfires north and east of Dargo, Tabberabbera and surrounds that are out of control. Spotfires are starting about 10kms north of Dargo, and 10kms east of Tabberarabbera ahead of the main fires. These fires could impact Dargo, Tabberabbera and surrounding areas any time between 6pm and 8pm. Severe thunderstorms are likely to continue producing damaging, locally destructive winds in Dargo and surrounding communities this afternoon and evening.

An Emergency Warning is being issued for Suggan Buggan, Wulgulmerang, Wulgulmerang East. There is a large bushfire traveling south east towards Suggan Buggan. There is also a large bushfire traveling north towards Suggan Buggan. There is currently extreme and unpredictable fire behaviour. You may be exposed to wild, erratic fire behaviour and heavy ember attack. You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.

Updated

I’m focusing on the live updates right now, rather than Scott Morrison’s deeply unfortunate promotional video which I posted earlier, but I will just point out that if you look on the Liberal party’s Facebook page, and if you click through to the explanatory material about today’s announcements from the prime minister, in the top right hand corner of the page you have an opportunity to shop, or donate, while you peruse the information. Seriously. Shocker.

Let’s keep moving.

Updated

This shouldn’t surprise anyone, given the events of the day. A statewide total fire ban has been declared for all of NSW for tomorrow, Sunday 5 January 2020, beginning at midnight. Conditions are expected to be severe and very high across the state. No fires may be lit in the open and all fire permits are suspended during a total fire ban. Gas and electric barbecues may be used provided certain conditions are met.

Updated

Not that we need an illustration to tell us why power assets have been compromised, but this short clip from Mike Bowers puts you in the fire ground.

Updated

On that subject, here’s the NSW energy minister Matt Kean. Please follow this advice if you can to take pressure off the grid.

Obviously a disaster of this magnitude affects vital infrastructure. TransGrid says the power grid has been impacted. Paul Italiano, the chief executive of TransGrid (these guys operate the high voltage transmission network in the state) has just told the ABC they are experiencing fire damage to assets around the Kosciuszko National Park.

“We’ve had to separate the two states and it is no longer operating as a single national electricity market and that has compromised the availability of energy to New South Wales.”

Q: Which areas and communities are impacted?

Paul Italiano:

At the moment the only community directly impacted by our assets is the township of Tumut. The area of most concern to us is the area between Upper Tumut and Lower Tumut, that is where the Victorian and New South Wales systems are synchronised and we can’t operate either of those transmission systems at the moment from those substations.

Updated

For the past hour here near Adaminaby it’s felt like midnight. We just stood and watched as two separate fires came over the ridge at almost exactly the same time. It’s blazing at the top of the hill now, long columns of fire spreading out in front of us.

The fire breaks out of the National Park along the Yauok Road North of the town of Adaminaby. Saturday 4th January 2020.
The fire breaks out of the National Park along the Yauok Road North of the town of Adaminaby. Saturday 4th January 2020. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

A team of about five tankers followed not long after the fire appeared over the mountain, retreating down the slope towards a property that they’re trying to protect at the bottom of this steep hill. There were other properties further into the national park that the fire crews we spoke to earlier were worried about. We don’t know what’s happened to them. There’s debris and ash falling around us everywhere, and the wind is still howling.

People evacuated from the fire-ravaged Victorian town of Mallacoota are being transported to a disaster relief centre at the Melbourne convention centre. One of them, Nick Ritar, was earlier today on board HMAS Choules, a massive naval vessel that is evacuating 1,100 people by sea.

Ritar is with his partner, Kirsten Bradley, and their son, Ashar, 10. “I’m on this ship with 1,000 other climate refugees”, Ritar told the Guardian earlier today. Ritar praised the defence force and emergency services personnel, but it sounds like it’s been a long journey.

“It sort of became evident last night there were a lot of people standing around at 3am without anywhere to sleep”, he said, adding that his family has been lucky enough to get a bunk.

As you’d also expect, the mood reflected the experiences of those on board. “There are people here who have lost their homes, they’ve evacuated because they literally no longer had a home”, he said.

“There’s other people who are backpackers from around the world. They’re doing what young people do, meeting each other, playing cards and laughing and joking.”

HMAS Choules docked at Hastings about 4pm today.

Updated

While I’m on images. The NSW premier. We are still to hit the worst of it.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks to the media at Rural Fire Service (RFS) Headquarters in Sydney, Australia, January 4, 2020.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks to the media at Rural Fire Service (RFS) Headquarters in Sydney, Australia, January 4, 2020. Photograph: STRINGER/Reuters

Trying to keep clicking out of my ears. Really trying, because there’s a disaster to focus on.

The disaster, through the lens of Mike Bowers.

Day turns to night along the Yauok Road North of the town of Adaminaby as the fire front approaches. Saturday 4th January 2020.
Day turns to night along the Yauok Road North of the town of Adaminaby as the fire front approaches. Saturday 4th January 2020. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

In Canberra, the ACT chief minister Andrew Barr has just given a brief update for residents of the capital. The short version of the briefing is we are ok now, but stay alert, given Canberra has recorded its hottest ever day, and the wind is whipping, and the fires are close, and many of us have seen these conditions before. In 2003.

Andrew Barr:

The wind conditions remain very strong, it’s obviously a day of extreme fire danger. Canberra people are experiencing this uncomfortable day. There is a lot of anxiety in the community, particularly as they see what is unfolding in surrounding New South Wales. Whilst there continue to be no active bushfires in the ACT, it’s important that Canberrans remain prepared for emergency.

Speaking of gritted teeth, the commonwealth commitments now have a backing track. And clicking.

Let’s press on.

Updated

ADF personnel are also at this briefing and the NSW commissioner says the state has spoken to the commonwealth to ensure today’s commitments by Scott Morrison don’t compromise the current containment efforts.

I’ll let the fire commissioner explain.

The one thing we have spoken to the commonwealth about following the announcement this morning is to seek clarity and confirmation that the recall of reservists won’t compromise all those men and women, whether they are volunteering or employed by agencies already committed to the ongoing firefighting effort.

“The last thing we want is people removed from the firefighting effort. The brigadier and I have spoken about that, and there are comprehensive databases where they’ll exempt people who already heavily committed which is reassuring for us. What we don’t want in this announcement and pledge is to compromise the ongoing firefighting effort.

The premier is also asked about a story in the Daily Telegraph today suggesting that NSW had knocked back commonwealth support during this crisis.

If you didn’t detect the gritted teeth from the fire commissioner in this last answer (and I must say I did), you can certainly detect gritted teeth from the premier. “Not true. Not true”, the premier says. The fire chief echoes that. Not. Happy.

Updated

He’s asked about the fire generated thunderstorms. The NSW commissioner says that freak weather can flip a 10-tonne truck. “A lot of the fire grounds we have already seen firefighters being withdrawn for safety to shore up and focus on protecting as much as they can that might be coming in the path of that fire. Under these conditions, suppression is unachievable. The focus becomes saving life and property as much as we can.”

Updated

The NSW commissioner is asked about reports of people not respecting today’s total fire bans.

He’s blunt.

It’s against the law and if people are doing it, they’ll be prosecuted. There are conditions that allow for barbecues in domestic dwellings and designated parks and reserves. We don’t want people adding to our problem, adding to the risk that is already significant for the people of New South Wales. If anyone sees people doing the wrong thing, again, please report it. Action will be taken decisively straightaway.

The NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons, says there are 148 fires burning across the state and 12 are now at the emergency warning alert level. There are another eight fires at the watch and act alert level. He says the greatest concentration of the emergency warning fires are down in the south-eastern quadrant of the state.

He says if emergency warnings are in place it’s too late to leave. “Your option for safety is to shelter as the fire approaches”.

Fitzsimmons says the southerly won’t move into NSW until about 5pm, and won’t hit Sydney until around midnight. “It’s going to be a very long afternoon and evening and, as that southerly approaches, it’s going to be a volatile southerly with wind strengths up to 80km/h or more. A long, difficult few hours, a dangerous few hours given the amount of emergency alerts out there”.

Updated

It is not safe to move

The NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is addressing reporters now. She says today is as bad as the projections suggested. “In relation to the projections we had this morning, unfortunately they are coming to fruition. We are in for a long night and I make no bones about that. We are in for a long night and we have still to hit the worst of it”.

Updated

As well as the one in Nowra, the NSW RFS says a fire-generated thunderstorm has also formed over the Doubtful Gap Trail in the Snowy Monaro area.

In the NSW southern highlands, an emergency warning has been issued in the Green Wattle Creek (Wollondilly LGA). The advice is fire activity is increasing in the area of Joadja. If you are in the area, it is too late to leave. Seek shelter as the fire approaches.

Still on that fire.

Defence assets are active in the Currowan Fire, which looks horrendous.

The Illawarra Mercury says 30,627 customers in the Batemans Bay and Moruya region have lost power.

Chilling images from Mike Bowers.

Day turns to night along the Yauok Road, north of the town of Adaminaby, as the fire front approaches
Day turns to night along the Yauok Road, north of the town of Adaminaby, as the fire front approaches. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
The Yauok Road, north of the town of Adaminaby
The Yauok Road, north of the town of Adaminaby. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Brett Mason, the SBS political editor, is in the Snowy region with our two Michaels, Bowers and McGowan.

Evacuations in Nowra after fire crosses Shoalhaven River

Looking seriously grim in that part of the world. That beautiful, glorious part of the world.

Updated

Back to Mike Bowers in the NSW Snowy Mountains. Looks like a marathon underway there too.

Updated

The Bairnsdale incident controllers are asked how long they think the fires can continue to burn for?

A long time, is the answer.

Based on the best estimate, we would say at least another eight weeks ... we are only at the beginning of summer. In a normal year, we would start to see the fire season kickoff in a big way around early January and we’re already up towards a million hectares of burnt country. We would expect – we are in for the long haul. This is a marathon event and we expect to be busy managing these fires for at least the next eight weeks.

Updated

We don't know what the impacts have been: ADF assists evacuation in Victoria

The incident controller in Bairnsdale in Victoria says today has been extremely difficult and there are over 1,000 firefighters in the field. “Low relative humidities, freaky wind conditions coming out of all different directions and temperatures are in the 40C range have tested every resource today.”

He says there have been impacts in the Omeo Valley, but “luckily for the Bairnsdale area and the southern parts of Gippsland, we didn’t see the quite freakish conditions that we saw to the north, and we’ve been able to hold a lot of the southern edge of the Gippsland fires”.

What we don’t know is what the impacts have been. We suspect there’s been a number of homes lost and we’re at the moment trying to get as many people out of the Omeo and Swifts Creek areas as we can, using Australian Defence Force helicopters.

The firefight is going to continue, this aggressive firefight, to save as much property as we can but also to keep our people safe. That will continue well into the night until we start to see an easing of fire weather conditions hopefully towards midnight tonight.

Updated

The prime minister has bobbed up on ABC news radio. He’s asked why it has taken so long for the government to announce the response that was unveiled today. Scott Morrison says the government has been respecting the states and their requests, but he said his time in fire grounds this week has persuaded him that the Commonwealth needed to integrate with the state efforts.

While Morrison squabbles with the host on ABC radio, Victorian authorities are providing an update. I’ll bring you that next.

In Canberra, the smoke isn’t too bad right at the moment (famous last words given the situation around the ACT) but my trusty weather app tells me it’s 42C. Reporter Jasper Lindell at the Canberra Times says temperatures in the city hit 43.6C – the highest reading ever recorded in the city, beating a 1968 Canberra Airport record and a 1939 record.

Back to the Snowy region in NSW. Scott Lonard is the RFS group captain in charge of the Adaminaby Complex fire which was upgraded to emergency level a few minutes ago. Lonard told me a little bit earlier that he arrived in the Snowy Mountains at about 11pm last night from Penrith with 10 tankers. Five have been sent to another emergency fire near Cooma and the rest are here.

He’s pretty frank about the prospects of stopping the fire. There are two properties out here on Yaouk Road that he’s worried about – but he won’t send his crews any further in where the forest starts. “We’ll do our best but five trucks for this much space isn’t going to be enough”, he told me.

The fire has been building here just north of the town of Adaminaby for a few hours now and the whole area is thick with smoke. Just before it was upgraded to an emergency level warning, Lonard said he feared it would get worse as the afternoon progresses.

“If you see me running, try to keep up”, he told us.

Updated

More vision from eastern Victoria.

The latest if you are just tuning in

With conditions now highly variable as the heat intensifies and the winds change, let’s do a very quick stocktake of events so far today.

The sky turns red over the town on January 04, 2020 in Bodalla, Australia. A state of emergency has been declared across NSW with dangerous fire conditions forecast for Saturday, as more than 140 bushfires continue to burn. There have been eight confirmed deaths in NSW since Monday 30 December. 1365 homes have been lost, while 3.6 million hectares have been burnt this fire season.
The sky turns red over the town on January 04, 2020 in Bodalla, Australia. A state of emergency has been declared across NSW with dangerous fire conditions forecast for Saturday, as more than 140 bushfires continue to burn. There have been eight confirmed deaths in NSW since Monday 30 December. 1365 homes have been lost, while 3.6 million hectares have been burnt this fire season. Photograph: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images

Tragically, two more deaths have been confirmed this morning on Kangaroo Island. The Kangaroo Island fire has destroyed much of the Flinders Chase National Park.

Emergency alerts remain current for a number of fire-affected regions in NSW and Victoria, with comprehensive updates from authorities expected a bit later this afternoon.

Scott Morrison has called out the ADF reserve to help manage the disaster and the HMAS Adelaide, the navy’s largest amphibious ship, has been readied to join the current ships in supporting the evacuation of citizens from fire affected areas along the coastline. The prime minister has also committed up to $20m to lease four extra planes to meet any anticipated future requests from the premiers. That will include two long range fixed wings DC-10s with 30,000 litres capacity and two medium range large air tankers with an 11,000 litre capacity.

The NSW RFS says a fire-generated thunderstorm has formed over the Currowan fire on the northern edge of the fire near Nowra. “This is a very dangerous situation. Monitor the conditions around you and take appropriate action,” the alert says.

Across the border in Mallacoota it looks like midnight in the middle of the afternoon. I can’t actually watch this short clip without feeling deeply anxious. This is how it looked in Canberra in 2003.

Let’s check Victoria for the latest from VicEmergency.

An emergency warning is being issued for Biggara, Tintaldra, Towong, Towong Upper, Walwa and surrounding communities.

  • As at 13.00 hours increased fire conditions have been observed. You need to continue to monitor conditions.
  • The Murray Valley Highway is closed in both directions due to increased potential for impact from the fire.
  • Fire weather today Saturday 4 January is predicted to be extreme, creating fire storm conditions which may not be survivable.
  • A wind change is expected late this afternoon or early this evening, which will cause the fire to change direction towards the northeast. Conditions can become very dangerous and unpredictable.

The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave. You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.

An emergency warning is being issued for Buchan, Buchan South.

  • There is a bushfire at Buchan Valley that is not yet under control.
  • Fire activity is increasing in the area.
  • The Bruthen-Buchan Road south of Buchan is now closed due to fire impact.

It is now too late to leave. Enact your bushfire survival plan now. The safest option is to take shelter indoors.

An emergency warning is being issued for Gelantipy, Murrindal, W Tree.

  • There is a bushfire at Buchan Valley that is out of control.
  • This fire is threatening homes and lives.
  • W Tree, Murrindal and Gelantipy could be impacted at any time.

You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.
The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave.

This Watch & Act message is being issued for Angusvale, Cobbannah, Crooked River, Dargo, Glenaladale, Iguana Creek, Tabberabbera, Wongungarra and surrounds.

  • The bushfires to the north and east of Dargo and to the east of Glenaladale are continuing to grow and move.
  • Firefighters will not be able to control these fires in today’s predicted weather conditions.
  • This Watch and Act replaces the Watch and Act issued at 8.56am.

Don’t wait, leaving now is the safest option – conditions may change and get worse very quickly. Emergency services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay.

Updated

Back to NSW, I mentioned the warning for Dunns Road. There are now several warnings current. In addition to the one I mentioned a minute ago:

  • EMERGENCY WARNING - Currowan Fire (Shoalhaven LGA) The fire has crossed the Shoalhaven River. If you are in the areas of Coolendel and North Nowra or Wandandian, Tomerong, Palmer and Basin View, it is too late to leave.
  • EMERGENCY WARNING – Clyde Mountain (Eurobodalla LGA) If you are in North Batemans Bay, Surfside, Long Beach, South Durras, Maloneys Beach and Long Beach it is too late to leave. Seek shelter as the fire approaches.
  • EMERGENCY WARNING – Clyde Mountain (Eurobodalla LGA) Areas north of the Moruya River including Mogendoura, Polwombra and across to the coast near Moruya Airport. It is too late to leave. Seek shelter as fire approaches.
  • EMERGENCY WARNING - Green Wattle Creek (Wollondilly LGA) Fire activity is increasing in the area of Wombeyan Caves, Bullio and surrounding areas. If you are in this area, it is too late to leave. Seek shelter as the fire approaches.

Also: this for traffic in that vicinity.

  • MOGO TO MORUYA: The Princes Highway is closed in both directions between Tomakin Road and North Head Drive due to bush fire. Broulee Road is also closed. Stay away.

Updated

Ominous over the border at Mallacoota too.

The NSW RFS has just issued an emergency warning for Dunns Road (Snowy Valleys LGA). Fire activity has increased in the area of Ellerslie, Adelong and surrounds. It is now too late to leave. Seek shelter as the fire approaches.

Updated

I spent Christmas in the bush between Tilba and Cobargo hoping to escape the heavy smoke in Canberra. My family left 48 hours before disaster struck. Things are looking ominous in Narooma this afternoon, just up the road.

It’s currently 42C in Canberra. My weather app tells me it’s 46C in Sydney and 47C in Penrith in the west of the city.

'It's turned to shit'

An update from Helen, who sent me the last blog post while I was watching the prime minister.

Now she tells me: a senior RFS source says 20 new fires have broken out between Nowra and Batemans Bay, and that fire crews are being pulled out of the Snowy Mountains, east of Jindabyne.

“It’s turned to shit,” he said.

Updated

Longreach sits along the shore of the Shoalhaven river, the scattering of houses along the single road surrounded by towering trees. It’s a beautiful corner of the world to make your own, but today it’s literally in the firing line. At one property we find a group of people who have stayed to defend. At one house, three of them are sitting back watching the cricket. Taking comfort from it, just like Morrison said, it’s wryly noted.

They’re not complacent – they’re ready and it’s evident in the advice we’re given about getting into Longreach and later, getting out. They’re all current and former firefighters, and between them Brent Edwards reckon they’ve got about 300 years of firefighting experience.

“And we’ve all got every bit of equipment known to man,” says retired firefighter, Edwards.

“We’ve got full structural uniforms if we need them, we’ve got breathing apparatus. We’re pretty sorted – Flash has spent three weeks preparing this place. He’s got pumps set up everywhere, plenty of water. George down the bottom has four pumps sitting in his swimming pool. But he’s got a 25 acre paddock, he’s OK. Might get a bit of an ember attack but we’re a bit more exposed here.

“My concern is, as always, we’re, for want of a better word, experts. And we’ve got everything. What about the poor punters with just a garden hose?”

He says there’s a few people further down with less experience who have stayed.

“We’re all sort of old blokes now, there’s a couple of 70-year-olds among us. We’ll get out of Dodge. We’ve got one boat down by the river and there’s another bloke coming up the river with another boat if we need to bail.”

Edwards is the former station commander of the Shoalhaven fire station, and was back here from the Gold Coast visiting his friends.

This situation is “incomparable” to anything he saw in his 35 years as a professional firefighter and a lifetime being a “student of the weather” as a surfer, fisherman and diver.

“What’s causing climate change is for another day,” he says.

“They just have to admit that it’s changed dramatically and do something about it.

“I don’t know how you can have an opinion about science? How do you have an opinion about fact?”

The weather is entirely different than it used to be, just look at the lack of southerlies bringing rain this season, he says. Not to mention the wind behaviour in these fires. Across the firegrounds I’ve visited I’ve repeatedly heard about its unpredictability.

The conversation moves to the structure of the firefighting services in NSW, the logic of backburning, and funding – another big and complicated conversation for another day.

Flash heads outside to “smell the air”, then turns on the pumps and comes back suggesting it’s probably a good time for us to go.

Retired former Station Commander of the Shoalhaven Fire Station Brent Edwards at his friends house at Longreach, just out of Nowra, South Coast will stay and defend the property, 4 January 2020.
Retired former Station Commander of the Shoalhaven Fire Station Brent Edwards at his friends house at Longreach, just out of Nowra, South Coast will stay and defend the property, 4 January 2020. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Updated

Let’s go to Victoria. The state department of environment, land, water and planning has issued an update for Gippsland, saying winds are strengthening and warning that, given the wide spread and sheer number of fires, they may not be able to get to towns to fight all blazes when they hit communities.

“Conditions are heating up and wind is getting stronger across the region,” the latest update says. “Areas that have already been impacted may be impacted again- due to patches of unburnt material across the landscape. There is the potential for a number of communities to be impacted today”.

“Our focus is on protecting people and critical infrastructure in communities – so we will have crews and machinery in place where we can – but cannot guarantee a presence.”

That fire is within 8 kilometres of Omeo. More details can be found here.

I might give you some thoughts about all that if time permits, but right now, we need to look what’s happening beyond the prime minister’s courtyard. Hang five. I’ll be back with a situation report on the fires.

There were questions about events in Iran, which I won’t delve into given the focus of the coverage today.

Morrison ended thusly:

For all Australians today, stay safe, listen to instructions, stay patient, be kind and support each other as I know Australians will. In crises and disasters like this, I always see the best of Australians and the best of Australians will be on display, particularly those very much in the face of that ferocious fire front.

I want to thank all of those for everything they’re doing today, every child they comfort, every service they render in ensuring that we get through today and that we get into the rebuilding phase.

I want to assure Australians about this: We will rebuild. At a Commonwealth level, we will be playing a significant role, as we have in response to previous disasters, to ensure we meet and beat this challenge as Australians always have.

Thank you very much.

Scott Morrison is pressed on the government’s lack of action on climate change. He’s asked whether he plans to increase the level of ambition.

Morrison treads cautiously. He says the current policy is responsible and balanced. He says the negative feedback on the fire grounds is not about a lack of action on climate change, it’s about heavy fuel loads in bushland.

But he sends a broad signal he’ll be raising all of these issues with the premiers. Climate change. Fuel loads. Land clearing. Planning regulations. It’s not entirely clear which issues specifically.

Scott Morrison:

These are difficult issues to balance and resolve and this, of course, will be one of the things that we will consider when premiers come together after they’ve been dealing with the fires and that’s where they want to be at the moment. I have spoken to premiers about this. They don’t want to be coming to meetings, they want to be dealing with the fires, which is where they are and they’ll continue to do that.

Updated

The prime minister says people under duress have mixed emotions and they display them. “These arms have given a lot of hugs in the last three months, in fact almost the last year and a half in which I have been prime minister.”

Scott Morrison:

There is a lot of criticism and commentary that comes on these things by a capture of a small moment and what you simply seek to do in these circumstances ... you try and respect people’s space but it is a very emotional situation and you have to try to manage it as best you can.

What I must do is what I’m doing today. The best response I can provide to people feeling angry and isolated, for people who are fearful and afraid is to do what I’m doing today.

Updated

Scott Morrison is then pressed on events in Cobargo. The prime minister is asked why he said (a few times now) that he had spoken to the young woman who tried to avoid shaking his hand until he made a commitment to provide more resources to the fire effort, when footage of the incident showed him walking away from her after her comments. I’m sure we’ve all seen that video by now.

Morrison says he spoke to her and to other people in the town.

I understand her anger. As I said before .. my response to that - I was the first senior leader to go into Cobargo and I understand the first person who is going to walk into that town was going to feel the anger and the fury and the frustration and the loss and the fear that was effort in that community.

Q: Will you follow up with her?

Scott Morrison:

We will be responding to the need in Cobargo. Her need was to ensure there was greater RFS support and I have relayed that on to the RFS. That was the key issue she raised with me.

Scott Morrison is asked whether the premiers are on board about the NSC proposals. He says he spoke to them this morning and they were positive. He’s then asked whether the boost to funding for water bombers is ongoing. Morrison says it is.

Morrison is asked about the ongoing health impacts of the smoke.

He says:

The advice we have received is that the response that is available to support those health needs at present is working well and there is no requirement for additional support whether it be through hospitals or things of that nature.

Updated

The prime minister confirms his planned overseas trips, to India and Japan, are off.

The defence minister is then asked to clarify the extent of the call out of the ADF reserves. Linda Reynolds says the government has estimated up to about 3,000, “but again, it might be less, it depends on what’s actually required as we go forward. At the moment this is open-ended”.

The prime minister is asked where the new water bombers are coming from. He says he’s advised two will be available within seven days and the other will be available within 14 days.

Scott Morrison is asked how worried are you about the risks today. He ignores the specific inquiry and moves to convey empathy. He says he understands how anxious people are, and he says the government will be with them all the way.

The prime minister says the feedback he’s picked up on the ground has led to today’s decisions.

What I saw particularly last week is what happens after the fire has gone through and how isolated and alone people feel. I experienced that first hand.

That has been a key factor in what has led to today’s decision.

We have moved to questions now.

Q: With the bombers, the RFS chief Shane Fitzsimmons in New South Wales has said today that the federal government rejected the business case a couple of years ago for more of those water bombers. Was that a mistake and how quickly will they be able to actually be tackling the fires in Australia if you are leasing them?

The prime minister brushes the question off. He says the government responded with two separate decisions of $11m which brought it up to the same level of capacity as was sought by that business case. “So that business case was addressed through a different method”.

The prime minister is flanked by the defence minister Linda Reynolds. She makes a point of praising the prime minister.

Linda Reynolds:

I also like to thank the prime minister for his incredible leadership in this difficult time for our country and also to minister Littleproud. This has been a whole-of-government effort from the very start. The co-operation at all levels of government, both federally and with the states, has been outstanding.

Scott Morrison ends his opening salvo by thanking the premiers for their support.

I know where their focus is. My focus is is in the same place. We are communicating regularly and constantly and the fire chiefs and the other emergency services leaders are doing an outstanding job.

But he says the primary objective today is to keep people safe.

Updated

The prime minister says the government will also stand up a national recovery agency “along the lines of what we established for drought and for the response to the North Queensland floods and we’ll have more to say about that in the next few days about those arrangements”.

Updated

Morrison calls out the ADF reserve, and funds more water bombers

The prime minister says just around half an hour ago, the governor-general signed off on the call-out of the Australian Defence Force Reserve to “search and bring every possible capability to bear by deploying army brigades to fire affected communities across Australia”.

Morrison says a two-star emergency ADF national support co-ordinator will have national authority over the ADF joint task forces in each of the affected states working in co-operation to support state emergency authorities.

He says the HMAS Adelaide, the navy’s largest amphibious ship, has been readied to join the current ships in supporting the evacuation of citizens from fire affected areas along the coastline. The Adelaide has been loaded up with a bunch of kit.

Morrison says the NSC today committed up to $20m to lease four extra planes to meet any anticipated future requests from the premiers. That will include two long range fixed wings DC-10s with 30,000 litres capacity and two medium range large air tankers with an 11,000 litre capacity.

He says the Commonwealth will fully fund the leasing costs with operational costs to be shared with state and territories as usual as they seek to use those assets.

Scott Morrison:

They asked for one, we gave them four.

Having now acknowledged where things stand, Morrison is making a number of announcements.

He says traditionally the Commonwealth’s role in disaster management has been respond to requests, but now there needs to be a more forward leaning approach.

Scott Morrison:

We now must move our posture as a Commonwealth from a posture of respond to request to move forward and to integrate with the local response. This has been the very clear message that I have received on the many fire grounds in the many affected communities I’ve visited now over some months but I particularly must say over the last couple of weeks.

The scale of the fires is stretching resources on the ground and there are clearly communities that need additional help and in response to that, we must move forward first as a Commonwealth, particularly with the work of our defence forces, and then integrate with the local operations that are in place in those local communities.

Scott Morrison addresses reporters in Canberra

The prime minister has emerged in his courtyard in Canberra. The opening salvo from Scott Morrison is empathy for the victims and thanks to the authorities and the premiers. Morrison is now acknowledging the scale of the problem Australia faces.

Scott Morrison:

In recent times, particularly over the course of the balance of this week, we have seen this disaster escalate to an entirely new level. This length of season is, of course, in many senses, unprecedented, but the ferocity and the absence of dousing rains that would normally bring a season like this under greater control is nowhere in sight and so that means a much longer season is planned for.

Just while we wait for Scott Morrison, Murph mentioned earlier that more than 1,000 people have been successfully evacuated from Mallacoota in eastern Victoria by the Royal Australian Navy, with the first rescued residents arriving to safety.

Evacuees from Mallacoota arrive aboard the navy ship MV Sycamore on January 4, 2020 at the port of Hastings, Australia. The Australian Navy rescued tourists and residents from Mallacoota after bushfires along the Victoria coast.
Evacuees from Mallacoota arrive aboard the navy ship MV Sycamore on January 4, 2020 at the port of Hastings, Australia. The Australian Navy rescued tourists and residents from Mallacoota after bushfires along the Victoria coast. Photograph: Pool/Getty Images

HMAS Choules and MV Sycamore arrived at Mallacoota, cut off by out-of-control bushfires, on January 2, with residents able to register for evacuation if they wished to leave. The ships loaded with passengers and left the town Friday morning.

Sycamore docked at the Port of Hastings, in Western Port, on Saturday morning, after nearly 20 hours at sea. Choules, carrying most of the 1,000 people evacuated, is expected to arrive Saturday afternoon.

“The embarkation process started at around 8am, with people being moved from the community centre to the pier by buses provided by community members, and then moved across to the two ships using five landing craft embarked in Choules”, Choules’s commanding officer, Commander Scott Houlihan said.

“Some 1,000 people were welcomed on board, and by early evening we had completed the embarkation and were underway heading towards Western Port.”

In addition to the human passengers, the navy vessels have also evacuated 135 dogs, several cats, a rabbit, and even a pet bird.

“The general spirit among our guests has been one of appreciation mixed with relief to get away from the devastation, and the heavy blanket of smoke that has engulfed the region”, Choules’s executive officer Lieutenant Commander Arron Convery said.

“Of course, there was some level of worry, but there were many hugs of appreciation throughout the day.”

The ships will return to Mallacoota once passengers have disembarked. While flying in the smoke-stricken region remains difficult, federal member for Gippsland Darren Chester said the military had also evacuated people out of Mallacoota on a Spartan aircraft on Thursday night.

“We’ve had people getting out of Mallacoota airlifted out who are vulnerable, super sick, or ill or injured with the Black Hawk helicopters”, Chester said.

“It’s a mass relocation of a nature which is completely unprecedented in Gippsland’s history.”

Defence was also able to move 10,000 litres of fuel ashore, replenishing two service stations in the town. About 3,000 people remain in Mallacoota. The town remains cut off by bushfires, which could burn for weeks.

Updated

Mike Bowers is also on the ground in the Snowys. He says the wind gusts are now up to 60km, which doesn’t bode well.

Local farmers talk to the Adaminaby RFS along the Yauok Road North of the town as the fire front approaches with strengthening winds. Saturday 4th January 2020.
Local farmers talk to the Adaminaby RFS along the Yauok Road North of the town as the fire front approaches with strengthening winds. Saturday 4th January 2020. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Back to the Snowys. I’ve just spoken to the Adaminaby RFS captain, Glen Squire, who has just come back from a run around the fire grounds. There’s multiple blazes burning only a few kilometres from where I am just north of town, and he’s concerned that as the wind from the north-west continues to pick up – and it’s really blowing now – they’ll converge into one.

“The issue we have is that a lot of the timber around here is mountain ash, which is really unpredictable”, he told me.

A bit further up the road from where I am, the paddocks give way to that heavy timber. Squire tells me there’s a bunch of property owners in there who have refused to leave, and he’s very worried about them.

“It’s not spotting right now but of the wind picks up a bit more it might be a different story”, he said. “She’s starting to get a bit of colour about her now. It’s only about two kilometres (from where we’re standing).”

I asked him if he’s concerned about the town itself: “Shit yeah”, he says.

Local fire crews have been working on containment lines for weeks but there’s so many burning around them and the wind is so unpredictable that it’s hard to be certain about what might happen later in the day.

Updated

It’s hard to believe that the NSW cops would have to issue a statement warning people not to steal other people’s things during a bushfire emergency but circumstances are such that the statement has been issued.

In the statement that shouldn’t have to have been issued but was, sadly, the state emergency operations controller, deputy commissioner, Gary Worboys, said both uniformed and plain-clothes police are already patrolling fire affected areas – and they have aerial surveillance support.

Gary Worboys:

Police and emergency services are at the ready to prevent loss of life, livestock and property, and I am disgusted that anyone would target these vulnerable communities at this time. People in these areas have already lost members of their communities, seen property destroyed and suffered emotional turmoil from the recent fire activity, they do not need the added stress of looters stealing what little they might have left.

Local police numbers are being bolstered by officers from specialist commands to ensure regular patrols are conducted throughout the bushfire-affected areas. With thousands of lives and homes at risk today, I can’t comprehend the type of person who’d think it’s okay to try and profit or benefit at other people’s expense.

Any reports of criminal acts will be thoroughly investigated. This sort of behaviour will not be tolerated by police or the wider community, and police will take immediate action to put these people before the courts.

In the southern highlands of NSW.

I mentioned earlier today the national security committee of cabinet has been meeting in Canberra this morning. Scott Morrison is due to speak to reporters in about 15 minutes.

Inspired, and we could use a bit of inspiration right now.

Some more news from Victoria, where the situation is moving fast. There has been an update to an emergency warning for people near the Goongerah fire, which is on the Victoria-NSW border.

People living in the Upper Snowy have been told it is too late to leave. The fire there, which is south of Bendoc and moving north towards the NSW border, is now threatening lives and homes. “Leaving now would be deadly,” the alert says.

The Princes Highway is now closed from Lake Tyers road, near Lakes Entrance to NSW border, a 200km stretch of road.

The latest information

Hello if you’ve just joined today’s live coverage of the bushfire emergency. I trust your fire plans are in place if you are in affected regions. This is not a drill.

Here’s a quick summary of the main events this morning.

RFS captain from Rocky Plains David Fletcher gets some up to date information during a Community meeting at the memorial hall in Jindabyne ahead of deteriorating fire conditions across the Snowy-Monaro shire council region.
RFS captain from Rocky Plains David Fletcher gets some up to date information during a Community meeting at the memorial hall in Jindabyne ahead of deteriorating fire conditions across the Snowy-Monaro shire council region. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Two more deaths have been confirmed this morning on Kangaroo Island. The Kangaroo Island fire has destroyed much of the Flinders Chase National Park. That fire remains at watch and act level.

In Victoria, fires in the north-east are continuing to burn, and 28 people remain unaccounted for. The first evacuees from Mallacoota have arrived safely at Hastings.

In NSW, residents of large towns in the southern highlands have been advised to consider their need to be there. Residents of Alymerton, Braemar, Balaclava, Willow Vale, Mittagong, Welby along Wombeyan Caves Road and Joadja Road have been advised to relocate, according to local media.

The deaths confirmed this morning in South Australia bring the fire-related death toll to 21 since October. There have been eight fatalities this week. The ABC says almost 450 homes have been lost on the south coast this week, taking the total number of homes destroyed in the state this bushfire season to more than 1,300.

Updated

It’s noon, and we’ve hit 38C in Canberra. Time for a summary if you are just tuning in. I’ll post that next.

Back to Victoria. God, your heart breaks.

To the southern highlands of NSW, the Illawarra Mercury is reporting that residents of large towns are being advised to assess their need to stay in the area. Residents of Alymerton, Braemar, Balaclava, Willow Vale, Mittagong, Welby along Wombeyan Caves Road and Joadja Road have been advised to relocate.

Updated

To the NSW coast now. We’re at the Shoalhaven rugby club, which is acting as a staging ground for the RFS, Fire and Rescue, police, and paramedics.

Strike teams here could be sent anywhere - it’s a waiting game. Some have headed towards the Shoalhaven river, where there are concerns the fire could jump to the northern side, getting into bushland and threatening communities like Bundanoon, Penrose, Wingello, and the Kangaroo Valley.

Darin Sullivan, station officer for Shellharbour Fire and Rescue, said they’re expecting flare ups on several fronts. Not everyone in those communities have left, and some places are holding community meetings today.

Sullivan noted that while it might look like the fire is relatively far away, it’s a matter of 15-25km and we have seen fires in recent days regularly spotting 15km ahead of the forefront.

“I was at Batemans Bay on New Year’s Eve and saw the devastation down there first hand. I responded on a team from Shellharbour that night, we had to get through the Nowra fire just to get there to help out.

I pulled into Conjola on the way back up - I’ve got a property at Conjola and my family was in Conjola that day.

I ended up evacuating my wife out on the firetruck - she was in Conjola when the firestorm run over that day. So everyone’s got stories.

“Tricky days.”

Updated

Checking in on the high country in NSW, where it remains a waiting game.

I just spoke to a fellow named Hugh outside his son’s 1400 acre property north of Adaminaby. The land runs up into the national park, and isn’t separated by a fence. Right now strong gusting winds are blowing a fire in the direction of the property, and smoke has settled above us.

Hugh’s son, Guy, has been building containment lines for weeks though and he’s hopeful that it won’t come through to the house. “All we’ve heard from the RFS is they’re very under-manned and it’s up to ourselves to defend ourselves,” Hugh said to me.

“The bush is so dry though. I guess one good thing about the drought is that usually the grass up to the house would be a lot higher. We’re just watching to see what happens.”

Time to check in elsewhere now. Luke Henriques-Gomes has eyes on Victoria and tells me two emergency warnings have been issued in the past 15 minutes.

There are now seven warnings in place across the state. The latest warning is for people at Gelantipy and W Tree and is available here, in East Gippsland and near Buchan.

“W Tree and Gelantipy could be impacted anytime within the next [half hour],” the alert says. “Leaving now is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous. Emergency Services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay.”

The fire season is only in its infancy: this is not over

Still in South Australia, the CFS chief officer Mark Jones puts the risks starkly and eloquently.

Look across the country, look at the news, Australia is enduring the worst drought it has had in living memory. The fuels are ready to burn and all it needs is a simple spark to create the bushfire that can spread so quickly in unkind weather conditions.

In periods of high fire danger we encourage everyone who is in an area that may be bushfire affected to stay alert, have a plan, as I said I Christmas, if your neighbour doesn’t have a plan, give them one as a gift.

This is a serious matter, we have learned today of a terrible tragedy on Kangaroo Island in which two people lost their lives. But think of the efforts that have been made by firefighters on the ground to preserve lives. Dozens more have been saved by their efforts each day through these fires, and I think it is important to recognise the bravery and heroism ... on the ground in protecting people and lives and property.

So I would emphasise to everyone this is not over, the fire season is in its infancy and the risk remains if severe weather comes through the rest of the season, the risk remains that severe fires may occur.

I would ask everyone to be vigilant and do their best to help the firefighters minimise risks to themselves.

Updated

Two deaths confirmed: premier urges residents to monitor alerts

The SA premier has just told reporters there have been two deaths in the Kangaroo Island fires.

Steven Marshall:

The forensic team from SAPOL is on its way, as we have more information we will make it known, at the moment the focus is on informing next of kin, our hearts go out to the family of those people that have been affected.

Again, it really does reiterate the very important message that people listen to, the alerts, which are coming out now from the CFS, this is a very dangerous situation on Kangaroo Island, and please stay alert to what is going on on the island, and to instructions from SAPOL.

Updated

Kangaroo Island blaze destroys much of the Flinders Chase National Park

The South Australian premier Steven Marshall is also providing an update about the situation on Kangaroo Island.

The premier says the fires on the island first began on December 20. They have now been burning for more than two weeks, but yesterday “there was a very serious escalation in the danger regarding this fire with the weather conditions significantly deteriorating”.

Steven Marshall:

It is fair to say the rapid damage assessment hasn’t been completed, but what we already know is more than 100,000 hectares have been the subject to very significant fires on Kangaroo Island. This has taken out much of the Flinders Chase National Park.

The premier says currently, there are around 500 people involved in fighting the fires on Kangaroo Island today. The local fire chief predicts the fires will burn for some days. He says during yesterday’s dramatic fire conditions, they had to evacuate the airfield where the water bombers were stationed, and three CFS vehicles were burned over, “but it is a testament to the skill and discipline and training of the volunteer firefighters that none are reported as having been injured”.

The Labor leader Anthony Albanese, and the party’s Senate leader, Penny Wong, are addressing the media in South Australia. There is a significant fire on Kangaroo Island. This video gives you a sense of how bad things are in that region.

Penny Wong:

We stand with you and we will work to rebuild and we pray that all of you remain safe.

Anthony Albanese:

We need to make sure every request is met with a yes.

For residents of the NSW south coast, the latest advice on the roads.

In the last little while, the NSW fire service has issued the following advice.

  • Watch and Act - Pilot Lookout (Snowy Valleys LGA) Several fires are spreading in Kosciuscko NP. If you are in Thredbo Village, Little Thredbo, Bullock Flat, Crackenback & surrounds leave now to Jindabyne via The Alpine Way.
  • Watch and Act - Werri Berri and Badja Forest Road, Countegany (Bega Valley LGA) An inversion layer is lifting over the Bega Valley & fire activity is increasing. Strong NW winds will push the fire towards the coast.

If you’ve been following the bushfire coverage, or if you follow events on social media, you’ll know that Scott Morrison has been criticised for his handling of the disaster, and for the government’s record on climate change.

If you follow politics, and if you are reasonably across Morrison and his private interests, you’ll already know the prime minister is a big fan of Tina Arena. If you follow the prime minister on Instagram, you may also have noticed that Arena has issued her own call to action.

Singer Tina Arena poses during a portrait session in Paris.
Singer Tina Arena poses during a portrait session in Paris. Photograph: Eric Fougere - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

In a comment under Morrison’s most recent post updating people about the fires, Arena says: “No more coal mines opening Scott ... It’s over! Drastic changes are required so MAKE the difference ... and now.”

Our reporter, Mick McGowan, is in the high country today, where communities are on high alert.

Quick stocktake of Saturday, so far

If you are just tuning in, Saturday, so far.

  • The NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has predicted it will be “a long and difficult day for everybody”.
  • The NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian says there is still a short window to evacuate from fire affected regions.
  • The NSW emergency services minister, David Elliot – the bloke who has been on holiday as the state burned – is back on the job. He says he won’t quit. “I came back to step up, not step down.”
  • The first group of evacuees from Mallacoota has made it to Hastings.
  • In Canberra, the national security committee of cabinet is meeting, and we expect to hear from the prime minister Scott Morrison later in the day.

Updated

Morning all, thank you very much to Luke. It’s Katharine Murphy with you now, from smoky Canberra. Only 10.30 and it’s already 31C here. If you are near any of the fire affected regions, do your fire plans people. Do it now.

The Guardian’s Ben Smee looked at the prime minister’s much-maligned response to the bushfires crisis.

Ben spoke to a public relations expert about what the former Hawke government press secretary Barrie Cassidy described as “the destruction of a political leader”.

Updated

I might take the chance now to share some of the bushfire coverage that the Guardian has published this morning.

Environment reporter Graham Readfearn filed this story about the impact of the fires on native species.

Readfearn spoke to experts who say fires on Kangaroo Island in South Australia could push the endangered dunnart – a tiny mouse-like marsupial – close to extinction.

It is one of a number of rare species that may wiped out as a result of the unprecedented bushfire crisis.

Victorian emergency services minister Lisa Neville says the second person in Victoria who was confirmed to have died yesterday has now been identified.

His name is Fred Becker.

“I want to pass on my condolences and the condolences of the Government to family, to the community of Genoa, who will be suffering as a result of this on top of the trauma they have faced in relation to fair fires,” she says.

Graham Ashton says there are now 21 people missing in the state as a result of fires. The figure quoted yesterday was 28, so this appears to be good news.

However, Ashton notes that the figure may shift again. “We’re trying to get into communities to again not withstanding the fire activity, get into communities and look for those people and satisfy ourselves that the people are OK and safe and well,” he says.

Victoria police commissioner Graham Ashton says thousands have evacuated from the leave zone.

About 60-70% of people spoken to by police said they were leaving. Fewer people leaving in East Gippsland, though that’s because many have already left.

“Traffic flows have been heavy,” he said. “Again, motorists have been behaving very responsibly on the roads out through the heavy traffic flows, which has been of great assistance.

“So it’s really heartening to see people that have been heeding warnings and behaving so patiently on our roads as they’ve been making their way out.”

Updated

Crisp returns to evacuations. He puts it in these terms:

If you might be thinking, I can get out on a particular road, well, there’s every chance that a fire could hit that particular road and you can’t get out.

We saw that a week ago with the Mallacoota fire. We had our Gippsland fires and then we had the Mallacoota fire start. So within a matter of hours, the Princes Highway was closed. We see that people are isolated down in that part of the state.

So, please, if you’re in any doubt whatsoever, if you know your local conditions, if you are keeping up to date with what is happening on the Vic Emergency app, listening to the emergency broadcasters, and you can get out, you should get out now, if you still have the time – you should be doing that.”

Updated

Crisp thanks the thousands of people who have evacuated from six local government areas across the state since Thursday.

He warns that in the Alpine area there is the potential again for the “pyro-cumulus columns to develop, and develop their own weather, so they can throw out their own lightning”.

“We still have those dynamic and dangerous conditions, the low humidity, the strong winds, and what underpins that, the state is tinder dry,” he adds.

“It is really, really dry at the moment.”

Updated

Crisp says there was some significant fire behaviour last night, particularly in the Alpine area.

“We have seen wind gusts up to 67km/h already today, up at Mount Hotham,” he says.

“It’s predicted when the change comes through we will see gusts up to80 km/h. The change has come through for the west of the state, moved through Melbourne, it’s moving now into East Sale at 10am.

“We won’t see that change until about 1pm, up at Wangaratta, and 4pm at Albury and not until 7-8pm will it be at Falls Creek out of the north-east.”

Updated

Victorian emergency services commissioner Andrew Crisp notes there is a watch and act in place in the Glenelg area, near Portland. That’s in the state’s west. A number of people were evacuated from a camping area there.

He is making the point that although much of the focus has been in the state’s east and north-east, there is the potential for fire anywhere in the state.

Updated

A press briefing is about to begin with emergency services officials at Victoria’s state control centre. We’ll bring that to you shortly.

We’ve made it to the town of Adaminaby, about an hour or so north of Jindabyne and right in the centre of the Snowy Mountains leave zone.

It seems like most people here have heeded the Rural Fire Service’s warning to leave. All the shops here are closed and the streets are dead quiet.

The wind that RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons warned about earlier this morning is starting to pick up now, and burnt leaves are falling from the sky around us.

Updated

About 450 emergency services staff are being housed at a massive tent city in East Gippsland that has been open since 18 December.

The base camp at Swan Reach, in between Bairnsdale and Lakes entrance, on the Tambo River.

The CFA said it has sourced almost all services, produce, and equipment from local businesses, which have also suffered an economic cost from the ongoing bushfire crisis.

“More than 5000 litres of fuel is being used each day at the camp, refuelling fire trucks and vehicles, and ensuring generators keep powering the site,” the CFA said in a press release.

“Crews are also consuming 1200 bread rolls, 140 kilograms of fruit, and 60 kilograms of sandwich meat per day.

Hygiene has also been taken into consideration, with 30 toilets being emptied twice a day, and more than 50 industrial loads of washing being done to ensure staff have clean bedding.”

Jingellic is in NSW, just on the border with Victoria, and north of Corryong. It’s threatened by the massive, 127,000-ha, Green Valley fire.

David Elliott says he won't quit

NSW emergency services minister David Elliott is asked if he wants to elaborate on his Facebook post saying his absence inexcusable.

He doesn’t.

Elliott says he has received a briefing and will be supporting the premier and the commissioner throughout the day.

He intends to visit fire lines over the coming days, however he will be unavailable due to a funeral on Monday.

A reporter asks if he intends to stay in the role.

“I came back to step up, not step down,” he replies.

And that’s the end of the media briefing.

Updated

We need funding certainty: NSW fire chief Shane Fitzsimmons

Fitzsimmons is asked about a proposal put to the federal government for a funding boost to the National Aerial Firefighting Centre.

He confirms that the federal government is yet to back the proposal – and says that fire authorities need more funding certainty.

“We have had a business case in with the Commonwealth to increase that funding which will be matched by the stats and territories,” he says. “We haven’t seen a positive response to that business case.”

That business case has been with the federal government for 18 months. But he adds:

What we have seen is the equivalent of annual injections of funding over the last two seasons, last season and you heard the announcement with the Commonwealth injecting another $11m. The business case was $11 or $12m to have that capacity sitting here [each season].

And Fitzsimmons says that the RFS went to the NSW government and was able to buy its own dedicated air tanker after arrangements were established with the northern hemisphere. NSW is the only state that has been able to do that, he says, and it is able to share its assets with other states.

“We have national coordination arrangements. They work very well, but what we need is certainty around the funding going forward so we can secure better economies of scale and certainty around what we’ve got here and how we’re sharing it going into the future,” he says.

You can read more about the funding proposal in this story by the Age. It is the same proposal that past fire chiefs like Greg Mullins have criticised the government for failing to adopt.

Updated

Berejiklian says 'of course' she is glad to have emergency services minister Elliott back

I mentioned to you earlier that the NSW emergency services minister David Elliott is back in the state. He’s been under fire for going on holiday during the crisis.

A reporter asks Berejiklian where Elliott is today. She says he is here at the briefing.

The reporter asks Elliott if he wants to say where he will be for the day.

Berejiklian answers for him. “He will be here.”

Are you glad to have him back?

“Of course,” the premier says.

Updated

That map shows the potential for ember attack and, on that point, Fitzsimmons says: “We have experienced in NSW, this season, 12 to 15km fires starting ahead of the main fire front taking hold easily and spreading very, very quickly in advance of the main fire front and they tend to catch up with each other and consume what’s in their path.”

The map we showed you earlier predicted the fire spread. That is the worst case scenario, Fitzsimmons says.

However, he notes that that usually, authorities have a “likely” and a “worst case” scenario.

“Generally speaking over the last five years or so, the most likely generally correlates with what actually happens on the ground.

“What we saw on New Year’s Eve, a lot of the fires were working to the worst case scenario. So a lot of the shaded areas that you’re seeing today around the predictive tools and the modelling that’s derived that product is defaulting to what we’re calling the worst case scenario based on our experience from New Year’s Eve.”

Potential for fire to break out, cross dam and move into Sydney western suburbs

Fitzsimmons is asked about fires just outside the Greater Sydney area. He says of the Green Wattle Creek fire, which is in a national park to the west of the city.

“We have got a prediction on that, that it spreads under the westerlies or particularly under the swing in the wind from around west, north-west through the southerly,” he says.

“There is potential for the fire to break out, cross the dam and move into the western suburbs of Sydney. That fire is burning. It has the potential to come out into more populated areas this afternoon.

“That’s one of our focus fires, of course, but I would say a broader is message be alert, be focused on any new fires today. If you see a new fire today, please report it on 000.”

Updated

However, we know there are people have decided to stay. Fitzsimmons says many people have left the vulnerable community of Batlow, west of Canberra.

But about 40 people have stayed, he says, according to the last figure he’s seen.

“They are in the town centre and if Batlow gets impacted, they will be in the town centre with the local fire brigades,” he says.

Those on the coast will head to the beach or to evacuation centres, he says.

Updated

Fitzsimmons is asked for the key message on evacuating. He says:

Our message has been make sure you leave yesterday. Leaving it until today is cutting it fine. The sooner you make that decision, the better and I would say do it now. Don’t leave it any longer because the window will shrink and will shrink very quickly. As I indicated, the hot, dry temperatures are expected to be setting in from 8am through to 11am of significance.

Updated

Fitzsimmons: “It will be a long and difficult day for everybody.”

NSW RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says the concern is that new fires will start under the hot, dry and windy conditions. More than 100 are already burning in NSW.

“We will see westerly winds, northerly winds turning westerly winds throughout the morning and throughout most of the day, before we see a fairly volatile southerly change moving up the coast sometime late this afternoon and getting to places like Sydney, not until late tonight,” he says.

Temperatures will climb into the high 30s and early 40s about 11am. A southerly change will set in later in the afternoon.

“But whatever the case, we’re going to have a long day dominated by hot temperatures, dry atmosphere and winds coming out of the ranges. We are talking 40, 50, gusting to 70km/h from the north-west and the southerly change that’s coming through.”

Updated

Berejiklian: still a 'short window' to evacuate

Berejiklian says the major road networks remain open, meaning there is a short window this morning for people who have not yet evacuated to get out of the area.

“But we can’t guarantee that beyond the next few hours,” she says.

The premier thanks what she says could be “tens of thousands” who have already chosen to evacuate.

Updated

The NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has started speaking in Sydney.

She is pleased to say “we’ve never been as prepared as we are today for the onslaught we’re likely to face due to the deteriorating conditions”.

The premier says there will be more than 3,000 firefighters, including 31 strike teams which will be located indifferent parts of NSW.

We make no bones about it, today is all about saving lives.

Good news from Victoria. The first group of evacuees from Mallacoota, in the state’s far east, have made it to shore in Hastings in the Western Port bay. Hundreds more will arrive on the massive ship HMAS Choules today.

Good morning from Jindabyne, at the edge of Kosciuszko National Park in the state’s Snowy mountains. This town is a mecca for the Australian ski season in the winter, but today it’s right on the edge of what the Rural Fire Service predicts could be a devastating day of fires throughout the region.

I just spoke to Mark, a caretaker at one of the retreats in the national park. He evacuated on New Year’s Eve and has been sitting tight ever since. Now, like a lot of people in Jindabyne, he’s worried about how safe he is here. Yesterday RFS officials held a public meeting in town and told residents – especially from closer to the mountains – that they couldn’t guarantee they would be able to respond if fire threatened their homes. They’re purely focused on containment at this point.

“We were thinking of leaving but then you might get stuck on the road, and where do you go anyway?” he says.

The crews are stretched thinly, too. A bunch of the RFS volunteers staying at the same motel as me are being sent to Thredbo today, but there are two major fires burning at Watch and Act level in the national park already this morning and a lot of territory to cover.

Updated

About 100,000 people have been evacuated from East Gippsland and Victoria’s north-east ahead of today.

Late on Thursday, the premier Daniel Andrews declared a state of disaster in Victoria.

This map distributed by authorities shows the area already burnt (shaded areas) and the potential impact area (within the bold black line) until midnight tonight.

“The potential impact area identifies an area that is likely to be impacted by potential fire fronts moving into communities, spot fires and ember attacks, thick smoke or fire closing major roads and isolating communities,” authorities say.

The NSW RFS has issued a map showing how they expect the fires to spread today. It gives you a sense of why they were so keen for people to evacuate today.

It shows the serious risk of ember attack along the coast, from Jervis Bay, through Ulladulla and Bateman’s Bay, and down to Narooma, where fires are currently burning.

You’ll note that the large patch of red on the left covers the Kosciuszko national park, which has also been evacuated.

Updated

'My absence was inexcusable', NSW emergency services minister admits

An unfortunate sidebar to the horrific scenes we’ve seen in bushfire-ravaged communities across the south-east has been the political response to the crisis.

David Elliott, the NSW emergency services minister, was heavily criticised after he jetted off to Europe for a holiday last month as much of the state was on fire.

He returned last night and has addressed the controversy in a Facebook post.

“My absence over the last week was inexcusable,” Elliott said.

“I should have put my RFS family first and foremost given the current conditions (even my own family acknowledge that) and now it’s time to get back to work.”

I suspect this won’t be the last you’ll read about this.

Here’s an update from the NSW RFS overnight. That’s 60 fires burning out of control. And conditions are expected to deteriorate significantly today.

We’ll be able to give you more information when the NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian and emergency services chiefs front the media in the next few minutes.

Updated

Good morning. I’m Luke Henriques-Gomes. Thanks for joining us on what is expected to be one of the worst days of the bushfire season so far.

Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate communities throughout the east coast, from Batemans Bay in NSW to the Victorian region of East Gippsland.

As always we’ll be with you throughout the day to bring the latest news and developments.

Updated

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