Bushfire near Edgeworth being treated as Suspicious

BY JESSICA ROUSE

A bushfire burning near Minmi Road at Edgeworth is now within containment lines.

The fire has is being treated as suspicious, started by a car fire on Saturday.

"The car fire is looking like it may have been lit on purpose so fire investigators both from the Rural Fire Service and NSW Fire and Rescue will work with police to obtain what evidence they can to determine if it was actually malicious and follow up as required," said Superintendent Josh Turner from NSW Fire and Rescue.

At its peak, the fire burnt through more than 150 hectares.

Around 20 Fire and Rescue NSW and the Rural Fire Service stayed on the ground overnight and this morning bringing the fire into containment lines.

"Doing a controlled back burn from containment lines which were put in around Link Road and Minmi Road,"

"Senior officers will inspect the site and get some new information this morning to make further strategies on what should be done today to fully extinguish this fire," said Superintendent Turner.

The fire poured heavy smoke over the area late yesterday afternoon and a westbound lane of the M1 had to be closed.

The fire is listed as being at Advice level by the RFS.

Looking north towards the blaze from Edgeworth.

NSW RFS crews are assisting Fire & Rescue NSW at a fire burning near Link Rd, Edgeworth (Newcastle). Smoke will be visible in the area, however no properties are currently at threat. One lane of Link Road is currently closed. Please monitor conditions in the area. pic.twitter.com/cRWfuburLP

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 28, 2018

Newcastle MP fired up Over Potential Relocation of Vital Fire Truck Equipment

BY JESSICA ROUSE

A proposal to relocate a heavy rescue fire truck and its two permanent staff from Cooks Hill Fire Station has one local MP fired up.

Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp believes the proposal to relocate the equipment and the staff into New Lambton is dangerous, especially considering the rapid growth of the CBD.

He says emergency services need to have a long hard look at the idea and completely reconsider it.

"It's something that really does need to be looked really hard at, it could increase emergency response times and the risk to life is something that really needs to be thought about long and hard and I suggest that is done,"

"Given the city is moving along so quickly and we have so many apartments and high rises and development in the city, it would be detrimental to move it from the CBD," said Tim Crakanthorp.

But Newcastle Superintendent Greg Windeatt has hosed down the claims, confirming to 2NURFM the proposal is just that - a proposal.

He said proposals such as this one are put forward all of the time as a part of the services review of their delivery commitments and resources.

Tim Crakathorp maintains though that it's a dangerous idea, and he's urging the idea to be taken off the table.

"I've been approached by constituents on this issue so I'm bringing that to the attention of the minister and asking for a reassessment of this possible decision, or proposed decision."

Image fire.nsw.gov.au

UPDATE: Fire burning at Lovedale now Advice Level

BY JESSICA ROUSE

UPDATE: 4:55pm

Fire crews are still on the ground battling the blaze at Lovedale.

It has been downgraded to Advice level, but has burnt through 88 hectares of land around Lovedale Road.

Wind conditions are easing in the area and the fire is now moving away from properties burning in a south to south easterly direction under north westerly winds towards Maitland Road.

The fire is producing considerable smoke in the area.

At this stage the advice is to monitor conditions and have your fire plan ready to go in case fire does threaten and the conditions change.

For the latest details from the Rural Fire Service head to: Fires Near Me

Looking out towards Lovedale from Rutherford.

UPDATE: 3:30pm

Rural Fire Service crews are continuing to battle the 5 hectare blaze on Lovedale Road.

The fire is still at Watch and Act Level at this stage.

The advice from the Rural Fire Service is that residents in the area of Barnard Road, Londons Road, Old Maitland Road, Abermain, Cessnock, Neath and Weston monitor the situation and put their fire plans into action if necessary.

Residents are also being asked to take the advice of firefighters in the area.

UPDATE 3:05pm

A fire has broken out in on Cessnock Road at Neath.

2:45pm

A bushfire is burning out-of-control at Lovedale, south west of Maitland and is at WATCH and ACT level.

It's burning near Lovedale Road at Lovedale.

Rural Fire Service crews are on the scene and are being assisted by NSW Fire and Rescue, and water bombing aircraft are on their way to help.

RFS Inspector Ben Shepherd said there are no homes directly under threat at this stage.

"It is burning in a southeasterly direction under some northwesterly winds. It is moving towards Majors Lane."

"The conditions are changing. We need people to stay alert and take advice from firefighters on the ground and make sure they know what they'll do in the even the fire threatens."

Watch & Act: Lovedale Rd, Lovedale. Fire burning approx 7km NW of Cessnock. Moving SE direction under strong NW winds towards Barnards Rd. Crews on scene with aircraft support. Residents in area should follow their bush fire survival plan & take advice from firefighters #NSWRFS pic.twitter.com/1FHAh5BT0i

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) December 14, 2017

Bus goes up in Flames in Thornton

BY JESSICA ROUSE

A bus has gone up in flames this morning in Thornton.

Fire crews were called to Railway Avenue at about 8:45am to find the Hunter Valley Buses bus well alight.

The driver was the only one on the bus and escaped without any injuries.

The bus has been loaded onto a tow truck while investigations into how the blaze started are underway.

Image Emily Rowley

Electrical fault sparked Shortland cottage fire

BY IAN CROUCH and JESSICA ROUSE

Fire has caused severe damage to a small cottage at Shortland this morning.

Firefighters from Wallsend, Lambton and Mayfield West were called to the home on Sandgate Road just before 8:30 to find the bathroom engulfed in flames.

It's taken about an hour to extinguish the fire, with the rest of the house damaged by smoke and water.

One occupant was treated at the scene for minor burns.

It's believed an electrical fault sparked the blaze.

Investigations continue into suspicious blaze at Hamilton

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Investigations are continuing into what police believe is a suspicious fire in Hamilton over the weekend.

Emergency services were called to a unit block on Fowler Street just after 7:30pm on Saturday where they found the unit well alight.

Several units were evacuated before NSW Fire and Rescue extinguished the blaze.

No one was injured, but there is extensive damage throughout the unit block.

Just after 9pm, investigators arrested a 41-year-old man. He was taken to John Hunter Hospital for treatment of unrelated injuries, and he has since been released. The man is assisting police with their inquiries.

Image @nbnnews Twitter

Clothes Dryer Sparks House Fire At Waratah

BY IAN CROUCH

A clothes dryer is being blamed for a fire which caused extensive damage to a house at Waratah last night.

Seven fire trucks were called to the single level home on Tighe Street just before 7 o'clock to find the unoccupied home well alight.

It's taken about an hour to extinguish the fire which damaged about 50 per cent of the house.

No-one was injured in the blaze.

Police say a it appears a clothes dryer left on at the back deck of the house sparked the fire.

Hazard Reduction Burn in George McGregor Park

BY SARAH BARONOWSKI

Don't be alarmed if you see smoke near Lambton Heights this weekend - Fire and Rescue NSW are carrying out a hazard reduction burn in George McGregor Park.

It's expected to last up to 12 hours beginning 9 am Sunday morning.

McCaffrey Drive between Lookout Road and Elbrook Drive will be closed while the burn-off takes place. There will be smoke in the area but Junior Commander, Peter Nies says the impact should be minimal.

"We're going to burn back from McCaffrey Drive into the bush. There'll be a small amount of smoke affecting John Hunter Hospital but we don't expect any problems to arise from that."

It's expected to be a low impact hazard reduction, burning low and slow.

According to Peter Nies, it will help reduce fire load in the surrounding area, protect nearby property and protect the bush and scrub as well.

He says the burn is nothing to worry about and Fire and Rescue officials will keep the situation under control

"We only burn where the fire stays low and burn slowly, and if the fire conditions on the day become worse than we expect, well then we'll limit it to the areas we can control."

Firefighter charged over fire that ripped through Kurri Kurri

BY JESSICA ROUSE

UPDATE:

A firefighter accused of lighting bushfires around Cessnock during the January heatwave has been stood down by Fire and Rescue NSW.

Joshua Lambkin is charged with lighting three fires at Kurri Kurri, Loxford and Chinamamn's Hollow.

At the time the 28-year-old was an on-call firefighter at the Abermain fire station.

Lambkin has been granted conditional bail to face Cessnock Court on September 6.

His younger brother Craig has also been charged over the fires.

EARLIER:

Two men have now been charged over four bushfires which threatened homes in Kurri Kurri earlier this year.

Strike Force detectives have been investigating the fires which ripped through Chinamans Hollow, Hart Road at Loxford and McLeod Road at Kurri Kurri on 18th January, after fears the fires had been deliberately lit. The detectives were assisted by Crime Squad's Arson unit as well which helped lead to the arrests.

Image MJF Productions Facebook page

A 28-year-old man was arrested at his home in Weston on Monday (31 July 2017) and taken to Maitland Police Station where he was charged with four counts of intentionally causing a fire and concealing the indictable offence of another person.

He was granted conditional bail and will appear at Cessnock Local Court in September.

NSW Fire and Rescue also say the man has been suspended from his duties.

The other offender, a 27-year-old man was arrested yesterday and charged with three counts of intentionally causing a fire and refused bail to appear at Newcastle Local Court today.

Strike Force detectives say they are still continuing their inquiries into the cause of the January fires.

Image MJF Productions Facebook page

Police Investigate Suspicious Fire At Bobs Farm

BY IAN CROUCH

A fire which destroyed a vacant house at Bobs Farm this morning is being treated as suspicious.

Newcastle Fire Command received several calls to the single storey weatherboard and iron cottage on Nelson Bay Road just before 3.00am, arriving to find the house fully involved in fire.

Six crews took an hour to douse the flames.

It appears a pile of tyres had been set alight, leading police to believe the fire was the work of an arsonist.

Family lucky to escape after fire engulfed their home in Belmont

BY IAN CROUCH and JESSICA ROUSE

A family has been lucky to escape their home in Belmont North overnight when it was engulfed by fire.

Just after 10:30pm fire crews from Belmont and Tingira Heights arrived to find a fire which started in the garage and spread to the roof of the home in Bimbadeen Close.

Fire caused extensive damage to the home.

Police say while they're not treating the fire as suspicious, crime scene investigators will return later this morning to determine how it started.

Fire at Teralba Caravan Park

BY JESSICA ROUSE

An investigation is underway into what could have caused a caravan at Teralba Caravan park to go up in flames earlier today.

NSW Fire and Rescue crews from Teralba, Toronto and Cardiff were called to the caravan park at around 8am this morning where they found a caravan engulfed by flames.

It took crews 30 minutes to extinguish the blaze.

No one was injured but the caravan was totally destroyed and an adjacent caravan was also damaged.

Fire destroys property near Dungog

BY IAN CROUCH and JESSICA ROUSE

Fire has destroyed a garage on a property at Martins Creek just south of Dungog overnight.

Both RFS and NSW Fire and Rescue crews were called to Cory Street just after 8pm to find a 6 by 9 metre double garage engulfed in flames.

Newcastle Fire Command says it appears the garage was being used for storage and the cause of the fire is not known at this stage.

Hamilton fire being treated as suspicious

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Police are appealing for information after a unit fire in Hamilton South over the weekend.

Emergency services were called to a unit block on Fowler Street on Saturday morning at about 6am, following reports of a fire.

Fire and Rescue NSW attended and extinguished the blaze and a 46-year-old male resident was taken to John Hunter Hospital with minor smoke inhalation.

Officers from Newcastle City Local Area Command have launched an investigation as they're treating the fire as suspicious.

Any witnesses who haven't come forward are urged to contact police, and anyone with any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Unit fire at Waratah overnight

BY IAN CROUCH and JESSICA ROUSE

A fire has caused extensive damage to a unit at Waratah overnight after a man accidentally knocked over a candle.

Firefighters were called to Turton Road just after 8pm to find the apartment well alight.

It took about an hour to extinguish and mop up the blaze which crews managed to contain to one room of the unit - causing damage to about of 30 per cent of the unit.

The male occupant wasn't injured.

Turton Road was closed to traffic for more than an hour and residents in the unit block were evacuated as firefighters tackled the blaze.

Fire and Rescue NSW: "Keep looking when cooking"!

BY JESSICA ROUSE

NSW Fire and Rescue is urging everyone to "Keep looking when cooking", particularly after an apartment block in Newcastle's west was evacuated overnight due to a cooking misadventure.

Eighty people were evacuated from The Cove apartment block in Bellevue Street when a resident left their chops cooking unattended in the kitchen.

The main focus of the "keep looking when cooking" campaign is to remind everyone to never leave cooking unattended as it's so easy to become distracted and lose track of what you're doing. 

Cooking misadventures account for more than 50 per cent of fires which start in homes and NSW Fire and Rescue say the message really is quite simple - watch what you're doing when you're cooking.

"A few moments inattention can lead to very significant consequences with a fire starting very quickly and spreading from the stove top into the kitchen cabinets and elsewhere so we really need people to keep a very close eye on what they're cooking," said Acting Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety Jeremy Fewtrell.

They're also encouraging everyone to think ahead and have a fire blanket nearby in the kitchen and an extinguisher in case the unthinkable happens. If a fire is quite small, the size of a dinner plate for instance, they say the best thing to do is use a fire blanket or extinguisher to put it out but if you're not comfortable ring triple zero immediately.

"The best thing they can do is get themselves and any other residents or occupants in the house out and then call triple zero and request fire and rescue to attend," said Jeremy Fewtrell.

"We also encourage people to have a home escape plan and that's just a quick conversation and a quick sketch and plan amongst your family or the group of people that you are living, about your exit points and how you're going to get out of the house safely and what would be your other path to exit the house."

Gas leak in East Maitland

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Emergency services are still on the scene of a gas leak in East Maitland.

Crews were called to Quarry Street just before 9am this morning where its reported excavation workers ruptured a 110mm medium pressure gas main.

An exclusion zone was put in place 100m around the worksite, and 17 people were evacuated - they've now been able to return.

Around 30 firefighters were on site in breathing apparatuses and there were high gas readings within the exclusion zone.

Repairs to the gas main did require further excavations which are still underway.

Energy Australia were called to the site as well with around 290 homes also having their power cut as a precaution.

Suspicious house fire at Waratah

BY IAN CROUCH and JESSICA ROUSE

Police are continuing to investigate what they believe is a suspicious house fire which tore through a home at Waratah.

The Ada Street property was well alight when emergency crews were called to the home just after 6am yesterday.

Flames tore through the roof of the single storey brick cottage leaving extensive damage to the roof and two rooms of the house.

No-one was home at the time.

Police say the fire appears to have started in the roof cavity.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Search warrant takes unprecedented turn in Lake Macquarie

BY JESSICA ROUSE

It turned out to be more than just property offences officers attended a Lake Macquarie home for yesterday morning.

A man has been charged after the Lake Macquarie Property Crime Reduction Team attended a home in Regent Street, Tingara Heights following investigations into an earlier break-in at Charlestown.

It didn't take long for the search to take an unprecedented turn with officers locating a man inside the home allegedly disposing items consistent with a clandestine laboratory - items used to manufacture the drug.

The 30-year-old man was arrested, the house locked up, and officers from Fire and Rescue NSW Hazmat and the State Crime Command Chemical Operations Unit were called in to attend the crime scene.

The man was taken to Belmont Police Station and charged with break, enter and steal, resist arrest, possess precursor and four counts of possess apparatus.

He was granted strict bail conditions and will appear in court today.

Hillsborough Road Swimart Fire

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Fire broke out just before 10am this morning at the Swimart Pools and Spas building in Warners Bay on Hillsborough Road.

Fire and ambulance crews attended the blaze following reports it had started when a forklift caught alight.

Fire crews successfully extinguished the fire, and are now at work ventilating smoke from the building.

Two occupants of the building were treated for minor smoke inhalation at the scene.