NSW: Sydney woman recalls bushfires of ' 94

AAP General News (Australia)
12-25-2001
NSW: Sydney woman recalls bushfires of ' 94

SYDNEY, Dec 25 AAP - As ash and smoke ruined her Christmas dinner today, Ruth Hilton
was reminded of the 1994 bushfires which destroyed 87 houses on the ridge above her home,
killing one local woman.

Miss Hilton, who lives at Bonnet Bay beside Como in Sydney's south, said she could
see smoke from the bushfires on three sides of her home today but didn't know where the
fires were.

"The sky is just black and the sun is a red ball in the sky and ash is covering everything,"

she said.

Miss Hilton said the fires were the worst since 1994 when "We had no power, no phones
and were cut off for three days".

"It wiped out 87 houses on the ridge above us. You could actually look up and see the
houses going up," she said.

"It was a bit scary watching the houses going up knowing there was nothing you could do.

"I had my cats in the car ready to go but there was no way out."

Miss Hilton said she now has five cats and was already thinking ahead as she and her
friends were driven inside by the smoke and ash.

"I told my friends if the fire comes through they've got to take a cat each," she said.

In January 1994, bushfires tore a path of devastation across NSW, tragically claiming
four lives and destroying 185 homes.

More than 24,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes as fire threatened properties
in Sydney and across the state.

AAP ph/jnb/br

KEYWORD: BUSHFIRES NSW HILTON

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