Mt Wilson, Blue Mountains - 14th December 2019
At 10:00 AM, in very high fire danger conditions, the NSW Rural Fire Service started a large scale, risky backburn operation near Mt Wilson in the Blue Mountains. Within hours it was out of control & within weeks it had become a major disaster. Now, communities that were affected want some answers about why the operation went so terribly wrong.
Related Articles and Videos:
Read: ABC News - Experts warn we are entering a New "Fire Age"
Listen: ABC - RN Breakfast Backburn Story
Read: ABC - Investigation into Backburning at Balmoral and Blue Mountains
Watch: ABC - 730 Story on Backburning at Balmoral and Blue Mountains
Do you have a story or know more about this incident and would like to get in touch? Perhaps you were affected by another backburn?
CONTACT: Jochen Spencer - Mt Wilson Backburn / Gospers Mountain Fire - Bilpin - Mt Tomah - Mt Wilson - Kurrajong Heights - BerambingEmail: secretbluemountains@gmail.com
It shows the main fire front still more than 15km away from communities. Large parts of the fire-front have quietened down - and begs the question:
...of one the most destructive bushfires to impact the Blue Mountains in recent memory.
Background Image: Artist Nina Lipscome
By the time the blaze was contained, it had burnt through an estimated 60,000 hectares of bushland across the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury areas.
Despite the staggering scale of the fire, the RFS is yet to acknowledge the full scale of the burnt area or the total number of buildings destroyed.
According to the NSW Rural Fire Service
Source:BMWH Fire Mapping by Aaron Greenville
Scars that will take decades to fade away.