A bushfire is getting scarily close to a maximum security prison in New South Wales.
Photos have been uploaded to social media showing an inferno raging a few hundred metres away from the Lithgow Correctional Centre.
Questions have arisen over what to do in an emergency like this, however officials have ruled that evacuating all the inmates is too difficult and they're all going to stay put.
A corrections spokesperson has told news.com.au: "We are indebted to all our officers and the Rural Fire Service volunteers, who have been working hard on site to monitor the situation.
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"There are no plans to evacuate the centre. It is safer to contain the inmates in the centre, given the road closures and fire risks.
"The centre is built from concrete and steel and there are buffer zones inside and outside the prison, with a solid concrete fire-protection ring circling the site."
The spokesperson added that the centre had firefighting capabilities on site so they were prepared to tackle whatever nature was going to throw at it.
In addition to that, there's little to no vegetation in or closely around the prison so if the fire does reach the perimeter, it shouldn't be able to get too close.
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The only big concern is whether the prison has adequate facilities to cope with the smoke that will surround the prison if and when the fire does come through the area.
While the prison has concrete walls, some people have raised the point that the locals who live in Lithgow were directed to an evacuation centre at a workers club for safety.
Photos of the fire encroaching on the prison were uploaded by Justice NSW on Twitter and some people thought the decision to keep the inmates there was 'cruel' and 'terrifying'.
Oberon Correctional Centre, found in the New South Wales Central Tablelands, was evacuated earlier this month when the Green Wattle Creek fire was raging.
Topics: News, bushfire, Australia