WITH northbound traffic stopped at the Italia Road turnoff about 10 kilometres north of Raymond Terrace, the Pacific Highway on the way into Karuah was eerily quiet on Sunday afternoon. A surprising number of houses are dotted through the bush along the way, and Rural Fire Service and National Parks and Wildlife Services were dug in at those under threat from the fire.
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As the westerly wind stiffened through the day, the Lone Pine Fire, as it has been labelled, jumped the highway in various places, burning across the divided median strip and pushing east towards Swan Bay. By dusk the fire ran from Balickera to the Karuah State Forest. Fire crews said the mild conditions meant things were not as bad as they might have been.
