A veteran firefighter has died on the New South Wales mid-north coast after being struck by a falling tree, as the state’s premier issued a warning about the “foreboding beginning” to the bushfire season.
The deputy secretary of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Alex Graham, confirmed the death of one of their firefighters.
The 59-year-old field officer had worked for national parks since 1996 and was an “experienced firefighter”, the state environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said on Monday.
The man, a division commander who had worked out of the NWPS depot in Lake Munmorah for 25 years, suffered cardiac arrest after being struck by the tree on Sunday night and died at the scene.
“Fellow firefighters provided first aid until NSW Ambulance paramedics arrived at the scene. Our thoughts are with the firefighter’s family during this difficult time,” Graham said.
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The NSW rural fire service commissioner, Trent Curtin, said the firefighter died while checking on colleagues as crews attempted to start a back burn.
“His efforts on the fire ground to make sure that our firefighters were safe … are just a testament to the work that he performed.”
Curtin said the tree was “most likely” damaged by fire, but it was unknown if this was caused by the blaze itself or the back burn.
Jihad Dib, the NSW emergency services minister, said on Monday there were 52 fires burning in the state, with nine yet to be contained. Over 500 firefighting personnel were in the field, along with 160 vehicles.
Dib said the death was a reminder of the dangers that firefighters faced.
“These are people who put themselves in harm’s way to protect the community, and this particular person has made the ultimate sacrifice,” he said. “It’s a very, very sad day for all of us.”
The premier, Chris Minns, said it was “obviously a terrible reminder of how difficult and dangerous this work is and how the people who put their lives on the line to protect lives and property do an incredible job”.
“It’s a deeply distressing turn of events, and a sad day for NSW this morning,” Minns told ABC TV.
Minns said it was “quite a foreboding beginning to the bushfire season”, being only a couple of days into summer.
Curtin said the blaze at Bulahdelah covered an area of about 3,500 hectares. About 100 firefighters were still fighting a blaze in Koolewong, while a large, uncontrolled fire burning at Milsons Gully in the Upper Hunter was about 11,000 hectares.
Curtin said high fire danger conditions expected on Tuesday would not be as severe as the extreme conditions experienced across the state on the weekend.
“A high fire danger day still means high temperatures, strong winds, low humidity and dangerous bush fires – communities need to be prepared,” he said.
On Sunday, the NSW rural fire service said 16 houses had been destroyed in the fire at Koolewong, not far from built-up areas on the Central Coast, with a further nine houses damaged and seven outbuildings destroyed.
At least four homes were lost at Bulahdelah.
The Central Coast mayor, Lawrie McKinna, said the fires had caught many by surprise.
“This just shows you during these summer months, everybody’s vulnerable,” he said.
McKinna said in his council area there had been 61 registrations of households who had lost their home or had to evacuate, covering 119 people, of whom 17 were children. He said many had moved in with families or to temporary accommodation.
The MidCoast council mayor, Claire Pontin, said it appeared only one of the structures lost in the Buladelah fire had someone living in it.
She said the owner, who wasn’t there during the fire, was being looked after by authorities. Pontin said the other residences that had been destroyed appeared to be weekend retreats, and owners were not present during the fire.
“We’ve had floods for the last several years,” she said. Before that, the area experienced deadly fires in 2019. “It’s a risk for everybody … since the floods stopped, it’s turned very dry.”
Storms and damaging winds would keep fire danger high across parts of Australia, with authorities calling for vigilance after a weekend of significant losses.
With easing conditions across NSW, firefighters supported by aircraft were continuing to strengthen containment lines. But authorities urged the community to stay vigilant.
Federal and state disaster assistance funding has been activated across the Central Coast, mid coast, Upper Hunter, Muswellbrook, Warrumbungle and Dubbo regions.
In Tasmania, authorities confirmed a 700-hectare blaze at Dolphin Sands, near the Freycinet national park on the state’s east coast, was contained after overnight rain.
Nineteen homes were destroyed and 14 others damaged in the fire that was sparked in the seaside community on Thursday.
More than 120 structures were damaged, including sheds, caravans, water tanks, carports, garages and electricity transmissions.
Australia’s national annual average temperature is about 1.5C higher than in 1910, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, and the climate crisis has increased the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.
– with Australian Associated Press
