Wild weather keeps Fire & Rescue NSW busy
Published: 8th March 2012
The severe weather across Sydney this morning has kept Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW)
firefighters very busy.
From 5am to midday today, FRNSW has responded to 18 road accidents, 27 powerlines and
trees down, 54 flooding incidents and 112 automatic fire alarms.
At the peak of the storm, around 250 FRNSW firefighters from 50 fire stations were responding
simultaneously to around 40 incidents at once across the city. As fast as one incident was dealt
with, new ones arose.
The heavy rain has caused minor flooding under buildings, homes, shops and flooded roadways
right across Sydney, with FRNSW working closely with the NSW State Emergency Service
(SES) to respond to the incidents.
In addition to widespread flooding, other significant incidents have included:
· A landslip behind a home at Harbour Lane, Middle Cove
· A partial building collapse at Avoca St, Kingsford
· Railway pedestrian subway flooding at Ashfield, Summerfield and Marrickville
· Fire in a roof of a house at Engadine after heavy rain caused cable to short-circuit
· Evacuation of 15 homes in Marrickville due to severe flooding of houses and cars
· A house fire at West Ryde caused by stormwater entering a meter box. Ambulance
paramedics treated several people for smoke inhalation.
Also, in the early hours of this morning a semi-trailer carrying mixed grocery items crashed into
a creek near Karuah, impacting north and south bound lanes of the Pacific Highway. All
agencies responded to the incident including FRNSW hazmat and the Environmental Protection
Authority.
FRNSW also continues to assist the SES and NSW Rural Fire Service with flood operations in
Wagga Wagga, Griffith, Forbes and a number of other regional areas.