NSW: Ring of fire around Sydney of concern to firefighters

AAP General News (Australia)
12-29-2001
NSW: Ring of fire around Sydney of concern to firefighters

A ring of fire around Sydney will keep firefighters up most of the night as they battle
to keep containment lines in place ahead of tomorrow's horror weather conditions.

With over 100 blazes raging across the state devastating an estimated 250,000 hectares,
fires on the central coast and the south west of Sydney are causing authorities the most
concern.

The NSW Rural Fire Service warns there is a risk that fire in the Spencer area on the
central coast will jump the Hawkesbury River and threaten properties on the edge of the
Hornsbyshire -- bringing the fires closer to Sydney's CBD.

Police have also evacuated 36 residents from a retirement village at Sussex Inlet as
a precaution against a fire which crossed containment lines at Shoalhaven on the south
coast.

Residents from Wandanian, Sussex Inlet and Bendalong have all been put on high alert
with the fire front now concentrated to the west of the Princes Highway at Jerrawangala.

A statewide fire ban remains in place.

AAP RTV dmc/aa

KEYWORD: BUSHFIRES NSW (SYDNEY)

2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.