A defence helicopter’s landing light is believed to have started the massive fire threatening homes south of Canberra.
Authorities are warning the 8106-hectare blaze is the most serious Canberra has faced since the deadly 2003 fires.
Spot fires ahead of the main fire were anticipated to reach within one kilometre of the capital’s far southern suburb of Banks on Tuesday night.
Residents of the small rural village of Tharwa south of Canberra were told late on Tuesday afternoon it was too late to leave and they should seek shelter.
The fire has since been downgraded to a “Watch and Act” alert level.
The emergency-level fire in Namadgi National Park had earlier burned east and northeast towards Canberra and was growing at a rate of 400 hectares per hour.
Canberra residents in the far southern suburbs were told to activate their bushfire survival plans, with an evacuation centre set up at Erindale College.
Operation Bushfire Relief’s Lieutenant General Greg Bilton told reporters on Tuesday evening a defence reconnaissance helicopter was believed to have started the fire.
He said the heat of the landing light likely started a grass fire under the chopper when it landed in the park, with the fire growing rapidly and damaging the craft before it took off.
Lt Gen Bilton said defence would be further investigating the cause of the fire but had ceased use of that type of landing light in the meantime.
Earlier on Tuesday, Caloola Farm manager Ralph Hurst-Meyers was desperately trying to convince three men still on the farm near the blaze to leave as they planned to defend the property.
“It just looks like a dragon, it’s unbelievable. It’s like a mushroom cloud with a red eye,” Mr Hurst-Meyers told AAP on Tuesday.
He said firefighters had told him the farm would become a trap if the fire reached there and said it was too dangerous to defend it.
Mr Hurst-Meyers said he had been in Canberra for the catastrophic 2003 bushfire and he’d learned it wasn’t worth holding your ground.
“I know what the beast looks like. I’ve seen this before. This is a shocker,” he said.
ACT Emergency Services Commissioner Georgeina Whelan said ACT Fire and Rescue as well as ACT RFS personnel had all been recalled to help fight the fire. “The fire is not contained. This fire will burn for several weeks,” Ms Whelan said.
She said hot, dry weather and enormous fuel loads were making it difficult to fight the blaze.
“The heat and the erratic winds will only make the situation worse,” she said. Emergency services have 27 vehicles, five helicopters, three small planes, two large air tankers and one very large air tanker fighting the fire. Defence personnel have been deployed to help build containment lines and assist in operations.
At a Tharwa community meeting earlier today, ACT Rural Fire Service chief officer Joe Murphy told residents it would be a lengthy campaign to get the fire under control.
“In all likelihood our worst day this week will be Saturday,” he said.
“We have some pretty ordinary weather this week.”
EMERGENCY WANRING FOR FIRE SOUTH OF PERTH
An emergency warning has been issued for a bushfire that is threatening properties in parts of Mundijong and surrounding areas southeast of Perth.
The blaze is heading northeast and spot fires are starting up to 130 metres ahead of the fire, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services says.
More than 100 firefighters are battling the fire and affected residents should leave immediately if the path is clear or prepare to defend their homes.
Incident controller Peter Sutton says it is already threatening homes and being driven by strong southwesterly winds.
“The fuel load in that area hasn’t been burned for some time,” he told ABC radio on Tuesday.
“We actually are already having properties impacted in some parts of the fire. People are actively defending their property.
“We’re doing the best we can to try and stop this fire with a number of aircraft in the air. It is quite a significant incident and it will go over a few days.”
Residents whose homes were under threat from a bushfire in parts of Lesmurdie, Kalamunda and Forrestfield, east of Perth, were earlier told it was safe to return home after an emergency alert was overnight downgraded to advice level.
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