Swansea crews wade to island fire near Co-Op after low tide opens access

newy.com.au – Fire and Rescue NSW firefighters from Swansea station were called to a fire on an island in Lake Macquarie near the Swansea Co-Op just after 1.30am, working alongside crews from Wallarah Rural Fire Brigade.

In a social media post, the station said the “low tide enabled crews to wade across to the island to access the fire”, allowing firefighters to reach the area on foot rather than by boat.

Firefighters carried equipment across the lakebed, including a portable water pump to draw water from the lake. The station said the pump was taken over “along with other equipment”.

“The portable pump is useful when access is difficult and there’s a watersource like the lake readily available to extinguish the fire,” the post said.