Collection 02: Bushfires in Hillville, Gospers Mountain and Green Wattle Creek, New South Wales, 2019, photographs by Dean Sewell

sub-fonds

8 November 2019-21 December 2019

Graphic Materials, Photographs

9651606

24 photographs - digital, TIFFs, colour

Dean Sewell was one of a small number of Sydney Morning Herald photographers who covered the New South Wales bushfires from October 2019. The fires were unprecedented in their extent and intensity. Sewell covered major fire fronts including the Hillville fire at Rainbow Flat; the Green Wattle Creek fire at Buxton and Bargo; and the Gospers Mountain mega-blaze, the largest recorded bushfire in Australia, at Lithgow, Colo Heights, and Dargan.

References:
'Understanding the effects of the 2019-2020 fires'. NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. Accessed 20 October 2020. https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au
Library acquisition file

24 digital photographs documenting the devastating "Black Summer" 2019-2020 bushfires in New South Wales. The photographs show the scale and intensity of the fires, the damage that resulted, and the efforts of fire fighters to protect lives and property.

Item 01: Hillville fire : NSW Metropolitan fire fighters enter a property off the Lakesway, Rainbow Flat with a portable generator and diesel can to help with property protection ahead of the approaching fire front, 8 November 2019

Item 02: Hillville fire : an elderly woman wears a facial respirator as NSW Metropolitan fire fighters, acting in property protection mode, defend her residence in Rainbow Flat against the approaching fire front, 8 November 2019

Item 03: Hillville fire : an unattended property is consumed by fire as the fire front, fanned by strong westerly winds, passes through Rainbow Flat, 8 November 2019

Item 04: Hillville fire : the structural framework surrounding a swimming pool remains burning nearly an hour after the fire front passed through Rainbow Flat, 8 November 2019

Item 05: Hillville fire : a farming couple in Hillville take to property protection with a garden hose attached to a portable water supply to douse grass fires that were spotting on their farm property ahead of the fire front, 12 November 2019

Item 06: Gospers Mountain fire : a resident of Colo Heights assists a Linden Rural Fire Service team as they move into protect her Wheelbarrow Ridge Road property. A Sydney Daily Telegraph photographer embedded with the Linden fire unit also films video of their actions, 19 November 2019

Item 07: Gospers Mountain fire : a Rural Fire Service Brigade from Wallacia patrols and monitors the flank of a flaring Gospers Mountain fire as it burns through pines on the edge of a Wheelbarrow Ridge Road property in Colo Heights, 19 November 2019

Item 08: Gospers Mountain fire : members of the Rural Fire Service stand on a ridge in Colo Heights watching and filming a helicopter water bomber help extinguish the fire as it makes its way up to a Wheelbarrow Ridge Road property, 19 November 2019

Item 09: Gospers Mountain fire : a Rural Fire Service fire fighter draws on further length of their hose as they attack the flank of a fast moving fire around the back of a Wheelbarrow Ridge Road property in Colo Heights, 19 November 2019

Item 10: Gospers Mountain fire : Rural Fire Service fire fighters in property protection mode prepare to engage with the fire front threatening properties along Wheelbarrow Ridge Road in Colo Heights, 19 November 2019

Item 11: Gospers Mountain fire : Rural Fire Service fire fighters rush to defend a Wheelbarrow Ridge property in Colo Heights as the Gospers Mountain fire flared and was elevated into an Emergency category fire, 19 November 2019

Item 12: Gospers Mountain fire : cars, a trailer and shipping containers at the back of a Wheelbarrow Ridge Road property in Colo Heights are consumed by fire as the Gospers Mountain fire breaks containment lines and is elevated to Emergency status under strong westerly winds, 19 November 2019

Item 13: Gospers Mountain fire : Rural Fire Service fire fighters work late into the night amongst falling trees and flying embers to extinguish part of the Gospers Mountain fire that flared to an Emergency category fire and threatened the town of Colo Heights, 19 November 2019

Item 14: Gospers Mountain fire : Rural Fire Service fire fighters prepare to defend the town of Colo Heights as the flank of the Gospers Mountain fire approaches Putty Road, a fixed containment line in the battle to save Colo Heights from the ravaging fire, 19 November 2019

Item 15: Gospers Mountain fire : Lithgow is surrounded to the north by fire as the Gospers Mountain fire, fanned by a strong northerly air flow, impacts on the town, 21 December 2019

Item 16: Gospers Mountain fire : Metropolitan fire fighters attending a property in Lithgow that was consumed by fire when the Gospers Mountain fire broke containment lines under strong northerly winds, claiming three properties in the town of Lithgow, 21 December 2019

Item 17: Gospers Mountain fire : Metropolitan fire fighters attending a property in Lithgow that was consumed by fire when the Gospers Mountain fire broke containment lines under strong northerly winds, claiming three properties in the town of Lithgow, 21 December 2019

Item 18: Gospers Mountain fire : a home in Dargan is engulfed by flames after the Gospers Mountain blaze broke containment lines and roared through the Blue Mountains National Park communities of Dargan, Clarence and Bell, 21 December 2019

Item 19: Gospers Mountain fire : a residential property in the village of Dargan lies in smouldering ruins after fire from the Gospers Mountain fire broke containment lines under extreme fire conditions and raced through the communities of Dargan, Clarence and Bell, 21 December 2019

Item 20: Gospers Mountain fire : Rural Fire Service fire fighters from Wentworth Falls Brigade are both exhausted and relieved at the end of a catastrophic day of fire fighting, 21 December 2019

Item 21: Green Wattle Creek fire : an unattended residential property in the South Western Sydney suburb of Buxton burns to the ground after fire fighting services were stretched to the limit when extreme fire conditions caused the Green Wattle fire to flare and break containment lines, 19 December 2019

Item 22: Green Wattle Creek fire : Rural Fire Service fire fighters scramble to prevent flames from spreading and destroying multiple properties in the south western Sydney town of Bargo when extreme fire conditions caused the Green Wattle fire to break containment lines, 19 December 2019

Item 23: Green Wattle Creek fire : an unattended residential property in the south western Sydney suburb of Buxton burns to the ground after fire fighting services were stretched to the limit when extreme fire conditions caused the Green Wattle fire to flare and break containment lines, 19 December 2019

Item 24: Green Wattle Creek fire : Rural Fire Service fire fighters are forced to reconsider their approach into the south western Sydney suburb of Buxton when the fire front cut off their approach to the town, rendering it too dangerous to pass through, 19 December 2019

In copyright:
Copyright holder:: Dean Sewell
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy Dean Sewell

Titles, dates and descriptive information supplied by photographer.