Relief and anger in Balmoral, the bushfire village that ran out of water

The local fire captain says it’s a ‘miracle’ some homes were saved in the ground-zero village he says the NSW and federal governments abandoned

The Rural Fire Service brigade captain
 of the NSW southern highlands village
of Balmoral, Brendon O’Connor, said
during Saturday’s bushfire, ‘everywhere
you looked was burning’.

The Rural Fire Service brigade captain of the NSW southern highlands village of Balmoral, Brendon O’Connor, said during Saturday’s bushfire, ‘everywhere you looked was burning’. Photograph: The Guardian 

Under attack from multiple fires running at them from different directions, the firefighters in Balmoral ran out of water.

The New South Wales southern highlands village of about 400 people was hit on Wednesday, smashed five times on Thursday and endured a horrific “quiet day” on Friday. Then Saturday came.

Conditions were forecast as catastrophic. The focus was on saving lives and as many properties as possible. Stopping the Green Wattle Creek fire wasn’t really an option.

“I held a community meeting on Friday and was very honest about what I thought was going to happen,” says the village Rural Fire Service brigade captain, Brendon O’Connor.

Read the story from The Guardian by Helen Davidson - “Relief and anger in Balmoral, the bushfire village that ran out of water.”