Australia fires live: Canberra airport closed as bushfires flare up on NSW south coast – latest updates – The Guardian

It’s quite a fluid situation here in Moruya on the New South Wales south coast.

The massive Clyde Mountain fire is approaching at quite a clip thanks to incredibly strong westerly winds, and the Rural Fire Service says homes in the town are at risk. RFS crews are defending properties north of the town.

A few minutes ago the main street was pretty well deserted as a (by now familiar) red sky came over.

I’ve just stopped in at the golf club and although it’s quiet they say they’re staying open.

A few extremely keen golfers were even still out on the course.

The conditions in Canberra are pretty abysmal.

Video from the Brindabella business park, which was threatened by the Pialligo fire, shows the strong winds ripping through the trees and thick blankets of smoke. The business park sits right next to Canberra airport and has offices for a number of government departments and the big corporate accounting firms Deloitte and KPMG.

It’s understood that a number of office workers have been treated for smoke inhalation after being evacuated. The speed of the fire had caused considerable concern, and spot fires are still being put out.

Warnings have also been issued for Oaks Estate, a relatively isolated suburb near the ACT-NSW border.

Oaks Estate is the most disadvantaged suburb in Canberra and locals have accused the government of treating it as a “leper colony” and creating “disadvantage by design” by leaving “vulnerable men with complex mental health and drug problems” in the suburb’s ageing public housing complexes without proper access to the rest of the city.

There is no direct bus line between Oaks Estate and Canberra.