NSW:Families in limbo as fires still rage in Sydney's west

AAP General News (Australia)
12-27-2001
NSW:Families in limbo as fires still rage in Sydney's west

By Ruth Peters and Roz King

SYDNEY, Dec 27 AAP - Michael Brennan has been ringing and ringing his home phone.

There is no signal. It's a bad sign.

Michael and his family were on a picnic with another family when firemen told them
they had to leave Bents Basin park at Silverdale, just south of their Warragamba home.

No, they could not return to their home, west of Sydney. It was too dangerous.

That was on Christmas Day.

Today, the Brennan and Hitas families are staying in a motel at Richmond with no idea
if they have lost all they possess.

The families share a two storey house and between them have twelve children.

"(The children) were shocked. They were looking forward to Christmas," Michael Brennan told AAP.

"It just couldn't be helped."

With nothing but the clothes on their back, the families spent two nights at a Salvation
Army hall before being put in a motel tonight.

They have no idea whether their home is safe. About 30 houses, 10 shops and factories
have burnt down at Warragamba since they were evacuated.

"I've been ringing my house phone and it's not ringing," Michael said.

"I left my mobile phone on the table. It was turned on. It's not ringing."

The last he heard about their home was from a neighbour.

"He was putting a fire out one metre down the side of our house."

The families are now just waiting to find out when they can go home - if it is still standing.

"We're just sticking together," Michael said.

His story is common across the Blue Mountains in Sydney's west.

Some of those forced to flee their homes in Warragamba and Glenmore Park on Christmas
Day have been allowed to return but only to see the smouldering remains of their homes.

For the Brennan and Hitas families it is still too dangerous.

Salvation Army chaplain at Glenmore Park, Captain Jonathon Browning said one family
from Warragamba had no time to even grab their wallets before the fire engulfed their
home on Christmas Day.

"They went back today and their Christmas dinner was like ashes on the table," he said.

The Department of Community Services has been working to find accommodation for those
who lost everything in the blaze.

Captain Browning said one family had been allowed to return home while others were
found accommodation in hotels or in department housing.

The Glenmore Park evacuation centre which has housed around 100 people for the last
two nights was likely to move up to Springwood as southerly winds threaten 10 townships
between Bullaburra and Blaxland.

The Springwood evacuation centre registered some 90 people yesterday with many choosing
to stay with family and friends.

But with firefighting authorities putting more residents of the lower Blue Mountains
on evacuation alert, they are preparing for an the exodus of people fleeing the fire.

Meanwhile, in Sydney's south at Helensburgh many evacuated residents were returning home today.

They were returning to houses without power and with unfiltered water after power outages
affected the filtration systems of nearby water supplies.

Some of them just filled their cars with household things and headed back out of town.

Police checkpoints were set up on roads leading into the town to allow residents to
visit their homes, collect personal belongings and check on their properties.

At the Shell petrol station attendant Donna Skiller said cars jampacked with personal
belongings were lined up to fill up before heading out of town.

"A lot of people have filled up their cars with household things, pets and kids and
are heading out of town," she told AAP.

"We've been really busy filling up cars and fire trucks passing through the area."

She said residents had been evacuated on Christmas Day, with many spending the night
at the Wollongong Entertainment Centre.

AAP rhp/ld/rk/ls/arb/jmd/br

KEYWORD: BUSHFIRES NSW FAMILIES

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