An apparent flu fire at Valentine sparked an emergency response on Saturday afternoon, July 20, as firefighters and police were called to a home on SImposon Street just after 3pm.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Firefighters say smoke was seen issuing from the house's roof, and charring was found in the roof as crews worked to contain the situation.
Police said there was no immediate threat to residents when emergency crews arrived, and no one was injured. Still, around 16 firefighters remained on the scene into the afternoon, working to contain the situation.
Meanwhile, firefighting crews were called to a large grass fire at Mannering Park near Vales Point Power Station in a separate incident on the Central Coast.
A spokesperson for the NSW Fire Brigade said crews had arrived just before 4.15pm to assist Rural Fire Service crews already on the scene to contain the blaze, which had covered a large area surrounding a nearby water treatment plant.
Strong winds across the state at the weekend have resulted in a swathe of emergency calls for assistance. NSW Firefighters have responded to just shy of 400 calls to Triple-Zero on Saturday and 162 calls for help, a spokesperson for the service said.
The spokesperson said nine trees were downed by winds across Newcastle and the Central Coast, adding to 175 other callouts around the state for weather-related incidents.
Gusts of up to 48 knots, or around 89 kilometres per hour, were recorded at the Bureau of Meteorology's observation station at Nobbys around 12.30pm, with strong winds ripping across the city throughout the afternoon.
The details of this report are developing. It will be updated.
Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016. Contact McCarthy on Signal at @SimonMcCarthy.50 or via this link: https://signal.me/#eu/SogMRDSICna4awnaQul1KAYAonquE3VoSG1eSaxudp73Pq8de-tDPI2GvkjVjoZR
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016. Contact McCarthy on Signal at @SimonMcCarthy.50 or via this link: https://signal.me/#eu/SogMRDSICna4awnaQul1KAYAonquE3VoSG1eSaxudp73Pq8de-tDPI2GvkjVjoZR
