A hospital in the NSW Hunter Region is standing by in case it needs to be evacuated as out-of-control bushfires threaten communities nearby.
The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) was on hand to defend Kurri Kurri Hospital, at Kurri Kurri, between Cessnock and Newcastle, after fast-moving scrub fires broke out about 3pm Thursday in Abermain.
The small regional hospital has 57 beds.
Three separate fires joined and threatened the suburbs of Abermain, Kurri Kurri, South Weston, and Pelaw Main, which were all subject to an emergency bushfire warning.
The latest RFS update said people in the area of Pelaw Main, South Weston and Boundary St, Kurri Kurri are at risk.
The situation eased by 8pm, and soon after the blaze was downgraded to a watch and act alert, after having burned through nearly 500 hectares.
It means the fire is no longer directly threatening property, but locals need to be prepared in case the situation worsens.
Weston resident Leslie Colecliffe told the Newcastle Herald she could see the flames from her back fence.
“I’m s**t scared, I don’t know where I’m going but I’m leaving,” she said, packing her six dogs into a car before she planned to flee.
While another resident, Ros Flynn, spoke to the paper after she had evacuated.
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“I don’t know if my house is still there,” Ms Flynn said.
“When I left it was lapping the fence across the road. We’ve had fires before but nothing like this.”
The most up-to-date information can be found on the RFS website.
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