Essential information
NSW RFS: Statewide total fire ban declared
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- Ongoing dangerous fire conditions have led to the declaration of a statewide total fire ban on Friday and Saturday. Out-of-control bushfire are continuing to burn across NSW, with 163 blazes listed on Fires Near Me at 7.30am on Friday. READ MORE
- Motorists should avoid travel between the Central West and Sydney as the predicted conditions may close the Great Western Highway in sections between Bathurst and Penrith.
- Major roads may close with little to no notice due to fires, including the Great Western Highway.
- Castlereagh Highway (Wallerawang to Round Swamp). Bushfire damaged, reduced speed limit of 60km/h.
- Glen Davis Road (Pinegrove Road to Torbane Road). Closed in both directions.
- Jenolan Caves Road and Edith Road (between Duckmaloi Road and Bastards Point Road). Closed in both directions.
- Bells Line of Road (between Kurragong and Bell). Bushfire damaged, reduced speed limit of 60km/h.
- Darling Causeway (between Bells Line of Road and Station Street). Closed in both directions.
- Wombeyan Caves Road (between High Range Lane and Taralga Road). Closed in both directions.
- Lithgow Mercury weather forecast
- Livetraffic.com
- Fires Near Me
Coverage
- Click on each headline to read the full story and see more photos
Lithgow resident Merridy Cairn-Duff found herself at the center of her own fire emergency last week when she was forced to flee her home when the Gospers Mountain fire threatened the outskirts of the town.
A FIRE station and thousands of dollars worth of equipment has been destroyed in the out-of-control Green Wattle Creek bushfire.
The massive blaze has been burning for weeks and has now reached 262,729 hectares in size as it continues to tear through bushland.
There is a very real possibility that the out-of-control Palmers Oaky bushfire could join up with the Gospers Mountain blaze during the next few days.
LITHGOW has just recorded its worst year of rainfall on record, with farmers, gardeners and residents struggling through the dry times.
In 2019, just 466.2 millimetres of rainfall was recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology which is far less than the long-term mean for Lithgow of 780.5mm.
The people
No matter how scary it might be at times, or how many family celebrations are interrupted, there is something about being a volunteer firefighter that just gets in your blood.
Dave Peime is among thousands of volunteer firefighters scattered across the state who are facing massive, out-of-control fires to help protect their communities.
The blackened hills hoist. The bare bones of a caravan picked clean by flames. The melted bumper bar of a truck. What appear to be garden ornaments, misshapen by furious heat, on what used to be someone's front porch.
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