EMERGENCY Fire on Masonite Road, Tomago downgraded to ADVICE LEVEL

BY JESSICA ROUSE

UPDATE: 8PM

The bushfire at Tomago has been downgraded to ADVICE level.

Fire crews will remain on the ground overnight to monitor the blaze and keep it under control.

The Rural Fire Service's advice to residents is to continue to monitor the situation and have your Bush Fire Survival Plan ready in case you need it.

Fire crews may conduct back burning on the fire ground if conditions allow.

All roads are now open.

UPDATE 6:30PM

The bushfire burning at Tomago has now been downgraded to WATCH AND ACT.

Conditions are starting to ease on the fire ground thanks to some light rain, a southerly change is expected to roll through at around 7pm.

The blaze is now nearly 1400 hectares in size and is still burning OUT OF CONTROL.

"There is about 115 fire fighters with the Rural Fire Service assisted by National Parks and Wildlife Service along with Fire and ResceunSW and our dedicated fire fighters have been assisted by our water bombing aircraft including our very large air tanker Nancy Bird and our other air tankers as well," said Greg Allen from the Rural Fire Service.

Residents on the south eastern side of Raymond Terrace and those in the area of Campvale, are advised to continue to monitor the situation and take advice from firefighters on the ground.

Residents in Barry Close, Cabbage Tree Rd and Massonite Rd and areas close to Newcastle Airport along Williamtown Drive, Technology Place, Kindler Way, Cresswell Way, Slades Road, Sandeman Street and Moxey Close should also continue to monitor the situation and take advice from firefighters on the ground.

"We advise all residents close to the area of the fire and also right across the state to know your bushfire survival plan, have it made, have it discussed with your family and household so that in the event that a fire does threaten you know exactly wqhat you'll be doing," said Greg Allen from the Rural Fire Service.

Watch & Act: Masonite Rd fire, Tomago. Conditions have eased across the fireground. Residents on the SE side of Raymond Terrace & in the area of Campvale advised to monitor situation & take advice from firefighters in the area. More information: https://t.co/HhU6p2U20A #NSWRFS

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 13, 2018

UPDATE: 4:30PM

A strong southerly change has now moved across the bushfire. It's now moving in a northerly direction away from Cabbage Tree Road and towards Richardson Road.

Residents in the area of Richardson Road, Campvale are being advised to seek shelter as the fire approaches.

All flights are delayed out of Newcastle airport - the Williamtown airport has closed its airfield to all flights until further notice.

Passengers are being advised to follow the advice of local authorities.

UPDATE 4:15PM

A bushfire continues to burn OUT OF CONTROL on Masonite Road being pushed further outside of containment lines by westerly winds.

Residents in Barry Close, Cabbage Tree Rd and Massonite Rd and areas close to Newcastle Airport along Williamtown Drive, Technology Place, Kindler Way, Cresswell Way, Slades Road, Sandeman Street and Moxey Close are advised to shelter in place as it is to late to leave.

NSW Rural Fire Service crews are being assisted by NSW Fire and Rescue. Crews are being assisted by the large waterbombing aircraft 'Nancy Bird'.

There are several road closures in place as well which could change at any time. At this stage Cabbage Tree Road is closed between Masonite Road and Nelson Bay Road. For the latest road closures head to: https://www.livetraffic.com/desktop.html

A southerly change is forecast for this afternoon which should help crews on teh ground get the fire under control.

For the latest information on the fire: https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fires-near-me

Advice as of 4:15pm from NSW RFS:

Residents in the area of Richardson Road, Campvale are advised to seek shelter as the fire approaches.

Residents in Barry Close, Cabbage Tree Rd and Massonite Rd and areas close to Newcastle Airport along Williamtown Drive, Technology Place, Kindler Way, Cresswell Way, Slades Road, Sandeman Street and Moxey Close should continue to monitor the situation and take advise from firefighters on the ground

Check and follow your Bush Fire Survival Plan and prepare for a bush fire in your area.

If your plan is to leave, or you are not prepared, leave early.

Well prepared and actively defended homes can offer safety during the fire.

Emergency Warning– Masonite Road, Tomago: Fire burning near Masonite Rd, approx 10km N of Newcastle. Fire moving in E direction towards Newcastle Airport. Sth'ly wind change in area soon. Residents should monitor conditions & take advice from firefighters #NSWRFS pic.twitter.com/mny0xRmZcY

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 13, 2018

"It's Wicked What They've Done to Us": Kim-Leeanne King on the Government's Non-Response to the Williamtown Contamination

BY JESSICA ROUSE

It's the town residents want to escape from, but they simply can't.

The PFAS contamination of Williamtown, or the red zone, has been plaguing the residents since the scandal was revealed in September 2015.

Kim-Leeanne King is just one of the many who lives along Cabbage Tree Road, one of the areas within the primary contaminated zones from PFAS. It's also the same road of a possible "cancer cluster" after Fairfax revealed at least 24 people who had lived on the road over the past 15 years had been diagnosed with cancer.

The cancer cluster reports were revealed earlier this year and labelled as being "too large to be coincidental" by One Nation Senator Brian Burston.

Kim-Leeanne has seen the effects of cancer firsthand after her father died of bowel cancer in 2005.

"Thyroid and colon cancer are known factors and the fact that my father was eating the vegetables that were grown here, I think that only adds to the worry that the rest of us have now, it's not if we get cancer but when we get it," said Kim-Leeanne.


The 47-year-old mother has always thought something wasn't quite right; her daughter suffers from various allergies and she herself has had a medical scare of her own this year.

The boundary of her property backs onto the heavily contaminated Lake Cochrane, adding to her suspicions about the chemical making her family, and her livestock, sick.

"I am resourceful, so I have done my own research on these chemicals and certainly what we are being told is different to what's happening overseas so we are doing everything that we possibly can. We no longer eat our own vegetables which we used to water with bore water."

Not eating anything grown on properties in Williamtown is one of the precautions laid out in guidelines published by both the Department of Defence and the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), the precautions though vary. Defence says it's alright to eat some things grown in certain areas, whereas the EPA urge residents not to eat anything grown anywhere within the red zone.

"Don't come in contact with surface water, don't do this, don't do that. I mean they're telling us all there are no known health effects, you're pretty safe, you're this you're that. But if they're telling us all of this why are they putting these precautions out there if they're not worried themselves?"

When it comes to taking precautions, Kim-Leeanne says they don't even let their grandson go outside and play for fear of what the chemicals in the ground may do to his health.

"He can't even go out in the yard and play. How sad is that? And this is Australia. And all the politicians are worried about in Canberra is their dual citizenship and saving their own political lives. It's a disgrace. A national disgrace."

Now Kim-Leeanne is just begging for an escape.

"That's the saddest thing. there's no way out. And then how do you replace what you've spent a lifetime building and doing... and I don't know... even just the sentimental value of things. It's wicked what they've done to us."

Cabbage Tree Road.

Cabbage Tree Road Upgrade Completed Ahead Of Schedule

BY IAN CROUCH

Christmas has a come early for Port Stephens motorists, with work on the long-overdue rebuild of Cabbage Tree Road at Williamtown completed 3 weeks ahead of schedule.

Work on the 1.3km section of road started in early October and wasn't due for completion until December, forcing westbound motorists to take a 25 kilometre detour just to access their properties.

However, mostly fine weather has allowed staff from Port Stephens Council and the RMS to complete the $1.35 million project in record time.

Port Stephens Duty MLC, Catherine Cusack says the upgrade was desperately needed after years of patch-up work.

"Cabbage Tree Road has not been well constructed in the first place and as a result, it's had little collapses along the way that have required ongoing rectification. It's been an ongoing nightmare, so what was decided was to rectify all the problems with the road base," she said.

Port Stephens Duty MLC, Catherine Cusack

Council Defends Closure of Cabbage Tree Road

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Port Stephens Council say the diversions they've put in place while Cabbage Tree Road in Williamtown is closed is the best option.

Diversions are being put in place while $1.35 million worth of essential maintenance is carried out by council on behalf of the Roads and Maritime Services to improve both the safety and longevity of the road.

Cabbage Tree Road will be completely closed from now until December, Monday to Saturday, between 7am and 5pm. Council say a full road closure with diversions rather than using a stop/go method of diverting traffic was the best option.

Capital Works Section Manager Phil Miles said when they've used the contraflow method of diverting traffic before it caused even more traffic problems.

"The first stage between Masonite Road and the current works was undertaken using contraflow which is the stop/slow traffic gets to go in both directions and the experience from that was nobody won, it was significant traffic delays for commuters and businesses going in both directions."

The detours will add up to half an hour of travel time for westbound motorists via either Richardson Road towards Raymond Terrace or Nelson Bay Road towards Newcastle.

"For those travelling from Nelson Bay all the way through to Sydney very minimal delays. For those coming from the Hunter to the airport and then heading home, again there's a relatively minimal detour. The local residents are clearly going to be the most affected as they always are with roadworks."

Williamtown Residents Prepare For More Pain.

BY IAN CROUCH

Just when residents of Cabbage Tree Road at Williamtown were coming to grips with the RAAF Base contamination crisis and a cancer cluster, they're about to burdened with a couple of months of inconvenience.

They're discovered road work is about to start, which will see the westbound lane of the road closed from October 9 until early December.

It means some residents will be forced to take a 30 minute detour just to access their homes.

Member for Port Stephens Kate Washington says this is simply unacceptable, and does not understand why temporary traffic lights could not be used instead.

"I just don't understand why this is going to be a complete block-off of the westbound traffic, so that the families going to and from work, taking their kids to school, they're going to have a significant detour," she said.

Urgency ramps up for Williamtown residents

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The Williamtown contamination saga continues to escalate, with shocking revelations over the weekend there is a possible "cancer cluster" within the red zone.

Fairfax reported over the weekend that at least 24 people have had cancer in the last 15 years who have been living on just one part of a heavily polluted street - Cabbage Tree Road.

In the wake of these unbelievable results, Hunter based One Nation Senator Brian Burston is threatening to withdraw his support in the Senate for some of the government's budget measures unless it makes a move to fund the relocation of residents who want out of the Williamtown red zone.

Senator Burston has labelled the number of cancers as "extraordinary" and "too large to be coincidental".

Image news.com.au

Residents were already desperate to get out of the Williamtown red zone and now the urgency has been ramped up.

President of the Fullerton Cove Resident Action Group Lindsay Clout can't believe what has come out to light and fears that the possibility of a "cancer cluster" may not be confined just to Cabbage Tree Road, but it could be the same for many areas across Fullerton Cove and Salt Ash.

"People need to be moved out now. We've spent two years soft-shoeing around this and we've been telling defence all the way along, the longer that they delay the moving of people out, the more information that's going to come out that's damning as a result of this contamination - and that's what's happening."

Paterson MP Meryl Swanson is deeply concerned for residents and is urging the government to give residents a solution, and give it to them fast. She, as well as her fellow Labor members, have contacted the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister's office in a bid to get an urgent briefing on the Turnbull Government's "solution" whatever it may be.

"Labor has put in a request for two meetings - one with the Department of Health and the Minister for Health and the second one is with the Prime Ministers task force so we have put those in already this morning, that has happened and it's in the making."