Bushfires out of control in northern NSW

Two bushfires are burning out of control in northern NSW as southerly winds
strengthen and test containment lines near the township of Brooms Head.

Four separate fires, including the Brooms Head blaze, are burning in the Clarence
Valley area north of Grafton as the state's firefighting community mourns the loss
of one of their own on the state's mid-north coast.
"The Brooms Head fire is currently uncontained, and crews are continuing to put in
backburning operations today to try and get containment on that fire," a Rural Fire
Service (RFS) spokesman told AAP on Saturday.
"Overnight, they backburned to the north of the fire, and they've also been working
with heavy plant equipment and also backburning to the south and the west area of
the fire."
He said firefighters were closely monitoring the Brooms Head fire as winds increased
on Saturday afternoon.
"A southerly wind has started to pick up, but it hasn't been too bad at this stage
so crews have still managed to hold that northern containment line," he said.
The fire has been burning around the Brooms Head township for several days.
"There's no properties under threat at this stage."
Residents of towns to the north of Brooms Head should ensure their properties are
prepared in case the fire breaks containment lines.
"They need to ensure their homes are prepared and to follow their bushfire survival
plan, (but) there's currently no direct threat to property."
Brooms Head Road has been re-opened to traffic, but motorists are advised to drive
with caution.
The Brooms Head fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon and has since burnt more than
5,500 hectares of bushland and prompted the evacuation of three campsites in the
area.
Firefighters got the upper hand on Thursday after the blaze terrorised residents of
Brooms Head, east of Grafton.
Reinforcements from Sydney and the Hunter were sent on Friday afternoon to help
fight the Brooms Head fire, and nearby fires at Gurranang and Metenga Creek.
Both the Gurranang and Metenga Creek fires north of Grafton have now been contained.
"Our crews are mopping up and strengthening containment lines there," the spokesman
said.
But, he said, a fire in the Steamer area of the Clarence Valley was burning out of
control in inaccessible terrain.
"At this stage, our firefighters are currently trying to assess how we're going to
put containment lines around that, but there's no direct threat to property there
either."
Meanwhile, a firefighter died on Friday while fighting a grass fire in Fingal Bay on
the NSW mid-north coast.
NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB) said the unnamed male firefighter collapsed and died at
Fingal Bay on Friday night, shortly after a grass fire in the coastal town had been
extinguished.
NSWFB Commissioner Greg Mullins paid tribute to the firefighter, adding his name
would not be released until his family had been notified of his death.
"Firefighters are men and women who are dedicated to saving life and property - it
hits all of us hard when one of our own dies or is injured," he said in a statement.