Locals say they will be forced to leave their border bubble to get supplies after the only butcher and supermarket in town burned down.
A fire ripped through Mungindi, a town suffering through drought and COVID-19 restrictions in far north-west NSW, near the Queensland border, leaving locals without a supermarket.
A call was made to emergency services about 7.50pm yesterday after a butcher shop caught fire and spread to the supermarket, a clothing store and a residential flat.
NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) said dozens of emergency service vehicles from RFS, NSW Fire and Rescue, NSW Police and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services attended the scene.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said the fire was contained by 9:30pm and was under control by 10:40pm.
There were no injuries and the cause of the fire is under investigation, with a crime scene established by NSW Police.
The fire is estimated to have caused $1 million worth of damage, including loss of stock.
The town was already struggling through drought and border issues associated with COVID-19.
The President of the Mungindi Progress Association Anna Harrison, who lives across the street, said the fire was a huge blow to the town.
"We thought we were in nightmare and it would wake up and it will be over but unfortunately for our small little regional town, this is going to be pretty devastating for the community," she said.
"I think everyone is just gutted."
Katrina Humphries, the mayor of Moree Plains shire said the blaze would create more problems with the Queensland border restrictions.
Ms Humphries said locals would need to leave the border bubble for essential supplies.
"So if they come out of Mungindi to shop in Moree or something like that they can't then go into Queensland to have their medical issues that is just cruel and wicked and brutal," she said.
Locals were mourning the loss of the businesses on social media, including Jarrod Hickling, who filmed dramatic vision of the flames.
"It is very sad to see this happen in our little community," he wrote on social media.
"It's been a hard year so far and now this happens."
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said it was a "terrible time" for regional communities and said he would be pushing for looser border restrictions.
"We'll set up a range of new facilities quickly with local government," he said.
Mr Barilaro said the ongoing border closure with Queensland will make the situation worse for locals.
"We've got to lift border restrictions for those communities because they're going to be impacted further."
Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall said a temporary store would be set-up until the town can rebuild.
"They're looking at a couple of sites to establish that at the moment just to make sure locals can continue to access their basic needs and basic supplies," Mr Marshall said.
