THE WORST fires in more than 20 years ripped through the heart of the Shoalhaven on Christmas and Boxing days destroying at least 35 homes and businesses and leaving millions of dollars of damage in their wake.
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An eerie light pervaded the Shoalhaven yesterday as bushfires continued to rage through Huskisson, Falls Creek, Tomerong and the Jervis Bay regions.
Families who should have been enjoying a Christmas lunch with relatives were instead fleeing their homes as the fire roared through leaving some with just the clothes they were wearing.
Late yesterday afternoon, Rural Fire Service volunteers and Shoalhaven Fire Control were trying desperately to predict which way the fire was going to move next, as a predicted southerly made its way up the coast.
Fears that the fire would move into Callala, Culburra and Currarong were becoming increasingly real as the wind continued to change direction throughout the afternoon.
More than 400 volunteers and RFS personnel battled flames on all fronts, with the worst affected areas including McArthur Drive, Seasongood Road and Fairfax Road in Falls Creek, the Woollamia Industrial Estate where several factories were destroyed, Hawken Road in Tomerong, and Beach and Duncan Street in Vincentia.
A thick pall of smoke hung over the pristine beaches of Jervis Bay and there were even reports that the fire had travelled as far as the beach front in some areas.
With a dominant low pressure system remaining over the area, conditions mirrored that of the 1994 fires which raged through the Shoalhaven causing massive devastation.
A spokesperson for Shoalhaven Fire Control said according to the Bureau of Meteorology, weather conditions were predicted to remain static until Sunday.
"This is pretty serious," said Caroline Quilter from Fire Control.
"We were very short of volunteers because of Christmas and other commitments for our RFS volunteers up in areas like Naramoi where they needed our expertise in fighting those fires."
The fire is thought to have started from a lightning strike at Dean's Gap, near the Hyland Lookout on December 23, however, it was not reported until the next day.
"There were volunteers out there trying to control it from Monday afternoon," Ms Quilter said.
"Those people only came in from the fire front on Wednesday morning."
Inspector Russell Eastham, of Nowra Police said they are convinced that the main fire started as a result of the lightning strike, however further investigations are being made by Nowra detectives after two young men were found in the vicinity of Vincentia High School where a fire may have been deliberately started.
With 75 tankers and three helicopters bucketing water on the main fire, fire fighters were not only battling the extreme heat but westerly winds which at times exceeded 80km/h and fanned the flames.
As Shoalhaven residents battled flames to keep their properties safe, holiday makers tried to escape the searing fires and the Princes Highway became gridlocked.
"If the weather remains relatively calm we have adequate resources to control the fire," John Cullen from Shoalhaven Fire Control said.
"We are now chasing outbreaks at some of the smaller towns like Myola where we are conducting backburning operations on their western sides."
