Large Gunning fire under control

FIRE: A large fire at Gunning this afternoon is expected to be brought under control of fire fighters within the next hour or two.

It burnt to within 500m from the village’s boundary at about 4pm, before bypassing it in an easterly direction.

No one has been injured, however between 80 to 100 sheep have been destroyed during the blaze, which burnt out about 530 hectares (1310 acres).

Rural Fire Service zone operations manager Peter Alley told Scoop the fire started at about 2pm at the Gunning waterworks.

It  spread into open country during high winds and closed the Cullerin and Grabben Gullen roads, just off the Hume Highway.

“It started north of Gunning and ran east, and was pretty close to Gunning, probably within less than half a kilometre, then it ran away from Gunning,” he said.

There were currently 40 units attending the scene, as well as three light bombers and a very large air tanker DC-10.

A hundred firefighters have been on the scene and will continue to monitor hot spots and keep the fire under control through the night.

“We expect it to be contained within the next hour or two officially. Then there’ll be hotspots they’ll patrol for next 48 hours.”

There is no indication of what caused the ignition at this stage.

Department of Primary Industry officers are currently attending to the injured animals on a Cullerin Road property.