A bushfire has shut down the M1 motorway north of Sydney following a backburning operation in the area.
NSW Fire & Rescue Superintendent Ian Krimmer said firefighters were trying to put out the fire near the Mandalong Road interchange.
“Crews have requested the motorway to be closed,” he said on Thursday afternoon.
The motorway, also known as the F3 freeway, has been closed in both directions.
Mandalong Road, near Wyee, borders Watagan and Onley state forests.
According to the schedule of hazard reduction burns on the RFS website, one was planned on Thursday afternoon for Wyee Road, which intersects with Mandalong Rd.
Closer to Sydney, the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) is trying to contain a blaze in Winmalee in the Blue Mountains which has burnt through more than 1050 hectares of bush since Tuesday.
Wind and dry conditions prompted the RFS to issue “watch and act” advice to residents on Thursday afternoon, although no homes were under threat at the time.
RFS deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said a fire had jumped the motorway.
“A fire has crossed from the eastern side of Mandalong Rd onto the median strip, then over to the west-hand side,” he told Macquarie Network.
Mr Rogers could not confirm whether a hazard reduction burn had caused the blaze.
“There was a hazard reduction operation in the area, that’s certainly – potentially – the cause of it,” he said.
“It’s reasonable to suggest that it is, but we have to go through an investigation.”
A sea breeze that has pushed further inland was not initially forecast, he said.
The deputy also defended the RFS from criticism about its reduction burns, and said a lot of planning is involved in trying to deal with more than 20 million hectares of bushfire-prone land in NSW.
“While we’re trying to do hazard reduction, there’s always going to be a risk of fire getting out,” he said.
“We don’t do these in a cavalier way. There’s a lot of planning… but when you’re doing things like that, occasionally things will go wrong.”
The M1 was reopened in both directions shortly before 5pm (AEST) on Thursday.
Southbound motorists are experiencing significant delays with traffic queued back eight kilometres, the Transport Management Centre said.
Northbound motorists were queued back around two kilometres.
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