Firies called to action as Pindimar suffers avoidable bushfire Highlight Section Myall Coast Photo Gallery Port Stephens by News Of The Area - Modern Media - March 12, 2024 Local police piloting traffic through ever-thickening smoke down Warri Street on Thursday afternoon. SMOKE choked the skies of Pindimar as a large bushfire persisted for almost a week, first reported at 4:21 am on Wednesday 6 March, near Nardoo St, North Pindimar. While its origins are not yet officially determined, eye-witness accounts noted the blaze grew from an illegally lit ‘heap fire’ upon privately owned non-urban land, which had been partially covered with dirt and then seemingly abandoned. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au Rural Fire Service (RFS) volunteers’ efforts extinguished the first fire, with returning crews on Thursday morning using around 8000 litres of water in blacking-out operations. By Thursday afternoon, whether via deliberate arson or hidden smouldering heaps, the flames had rekindled into a large blaze that tracked north along Warri Street, the only accessway in or out of North Pindimar. RFS volunteers from twelve Brigades, including Pindimar-Tea Gardens, Medowie, Girvan, Bulahdelah, Limeburners Creek, Thornton, Wootton, Karuah, Stroud, Clarence Town, North Arm Cove, Coomba Park, as well as contingents from Tea Gardens 471 Fire and Rescue NSW, united to contain the fire on the eastern side of Warri Street, employing backburning to clear ground fuel ahead of the raging inferno. Some brief but blessed rain fell at midnight on Thursday, but hardly enough to eliminate the danger. On Friday, when the fire reappeared and continued north along Warri Street, RFS crews valiantly kept it from jumping west over Warri St, dowsing spot-fires caused by raining embers. The fire moved northwards, halfway to the Totem, but a favourable wind from 5:30pm, and a water-bombing helicopter, kept it on the eastern side of Warri Street. Saturday saw several firies and some of their closest supporters run their fundraising BBQ at Motorfest in Hawks Nest, however, another flare-up caused half the local brigade to take off to reinforce the under-resourced monitoring group. The original heap fires along Nardoo Street, which may have smouldered invisibly, were not permitted fires, and therefore illegally lit during the official bushfire season. “It is very dry in our area and no pile burns should be started, it’s so dry that the usually swampy area is where the fire is expanding,” said one RFS spokesperson. “Thank you to the Tea Gardens Hotel for providing us with 85 meals for the crews still on the fire ground after the fire was contained.” Pindimar-Tea Gardens RFS Captain David Bright told NOTA on Sunday night, “The fire is continually emerging from the peat ground cover – we put it totally out, then it reignites 30 minutes later. “We have to continually monitor until we get some good rain,” Captain David Bright said on Sunday night. “A huge thanks to everyone who has assisted with the Pindimar fire for the last six days, it has been a major effort from locals and crew from throughout MidCoast and Lower Hunter Districts.” Fire restrictions remain in place across the MidCoast District. By Thomas O’KEEFE A scene of devastation along Warri Street, but the green at the fence line proves containment efforts were effective. Rural Fire Service volunteers monitor the fire’s approach to the road. Rural Fire Service back burn a dirt road off Warri Street, getting ahead of the raging inferno to stop it in its tracks. The Pindimar smoke plume, as seen from Viney Creek Road on Friday afternoon. The Rural Fire Service’s water-bombing helicopter was called in on Friday, with a female pilot on International Women’s Day. The Hazards Near Me app delineation of the Pindimar fire on Sunday morning (10 March), status: Under Control; size: eleven hectares.
