Six fire trucks sent to Malabar Head after bushfire threatens equestrian centre

Firefighters have successfully “knocked down” a dangerous 200m by 300m fire in Sydney’s south, but crews are still on scene to “mop up” spot fires.

Several fire crews worked through Sunday to contain a fire that reignited near an equestrian centre in Sydney’s Malabar Headlands, after firefighters had previously worked to stamp out two blazes ignited on early Sunday morning.

Fire and Rescue received the alert of the fire near Malabar Headlands at about 12.18pm on Sunday, with reports flames were encroaching on the South East Equestrian Club located at Anzac Rifle Range.

Six trucks were deployed both to the equestrian club and to surrounding area to battle the blaze.

Superintendent Jim O’Carroll, speaking with NewsWire at 3.20pm, confirmed the fire had been knocked down but there were still seven fire trucks on scene.

“The area that was alight has been knocked out and now crews are now mopping up some hot spots,” he said.

The fire was earlier marked by Fires Near Me as being “out-of-control”, and residents were told to monitor conditions in case the situation changes.

Firefighters were previously called into the site overnight on Sunday, and extinguished a small grass fire in the area just after 2am, and again at about 10.30am on Sunday.

Superintendent O’Carroll said the “extremely inaccessible” location of the fire made it difficult for firefighters to put out, leading to a several hours-long battle.

There were no street hydrants available for a water source, he said, so the fire crews had set up a “water relay” between trucks to get water to the fire.

“We couldn’t get trucks up there,” he said,

While the fires were considered low-level, they posed a risk to nearby horse stables.

“At its peak, it was a 300m by 200m fire, at its peak,” he said. – at its peak

“It started to impinge on the fence on the equestrian centre and so we placed a couple of fire trucks there for protection.”

No property had been damaged in the fire, he said.

Eight fire trucks were called in on Sunday morning, plus drones to help assess the extent of the fires.

While the source has yet to be determined a Fire and Rescue spokesman said the windy conditions and high temperatures exacerbated fire-prone conditions.

On Saturday, residents in Sydney’s North Beaches were warned to take shelter after out-of-control blazes from hazard reduction burns threatened nearby property.

Rural Fire Service inspector Ben Shepherd said gusty winds carried the embers past their containment lines and pushed the fires east.

No homes were believed to have been damaged by the fires, and the emergency warning was downgraded to advice in the afternoon.

Superintendent O’Carroll said the situation would shortly be handed over to the National Parks service.