Narrabri crew on hand at Moree sinkhole drama

Narrabri Fire and Rescue personnel were in the right place at the right time to help when a sinkhole opened on the saturated banks of the flooded Mehi River in Moree late on Wednesday night.

Three people were helped from the sinkhole.

Narrabri Fire and Rescue personnel were tasked to Moree last week to assist local agencies in dealing with the flood emergency.

“We had a crew of four, Tim Korteland, Jack Ford and Caleb Dickinson assisting the Moree town brigade,” said senior firefighter on the Narrabri truck, Jason Anderson.

With worries the town would be cut in half by the flooded river, Moree brigade looked after the southern side and the Narrabri team looked after the northern side of town.

“We were staged at Moree Ambulance Station for the day, helping with any flood issues,” said Mr Anderson.

Other Narrabri Fire and Rescue personnel have also gone up to Moree to assist.

The first team went up on Wednesday and were rostered on until midnight, and prepared for their time to be extended if needed.

“Just before we were to return to Narrabri, about midnight, we went to the Geoffrey Hunter Bridge near the tourist information centre to check the water levels,” said Mr Anderson.

“There was a large crowd gathered on the riverbank in the park adjacent.

“We heard cries for help.”

The crew realised that people were calling out that ‘someone had been sucked down the drain.’

“Our immediate concern was that they had been sucked into the stormwater drain,” said Mr Anderson.

“There was a sinkhole and there were concerns that was actually drawing them into the river.

“They were only about 10-15 metres from the bank of the river which was flowing at peak flood.”

There were three people in the sink hole.

“We helped the man out and we helped the other female out and then we helped pull the other female out,” said Mr Anderson.

“It was about a metre and a half to the water level in the hole and we don’t know how deep the water was, or where it went.

“It was fortunate we were there at the time. It was really good work by the crew,” he said.

“I would like to thank the members of the public who assisted us in the incident,” said Mr Anderson. Narrabri Fire and Rescue are trained in swift water rescue.