RURAL Fire Service (RFS) crews were busy across the region last night as thunderstorms lashed down.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The evening of incidents kicked off at 6.25pm when a car being transported in a trailer caught fire on the Oxley Highway near Mullaley.
Police, along with an RFS crew attended the scene where the driver, a neighbour and the Mullaley Fire Brigade had used fire extinguishers to put out the blaze.
RFS Liverpool Range district coordinator Myles O’Reilly said the cause of the fire is still unknown.
“It could of been caused by any number of things,” Mr O’Reilly.
“The positive thing is that the fire was extinguished very quickly and was contained to just the car itself and no other property or land.”
Mr O’Reilly said the incident was one of many spread around the region last night.
“We have had busier nights but last night was certainly busy,” he said.
“A crew spent a period of time attending to a fallen tree on the New England highway between Willow Tree and Wallabadah.
“Luckily the incident was quickly dealt with and any major delays were avoided.”
The RFS officer said electricity to homes was affected by other incidents.
“There was a lightning strike which brought down a tree in Quipolly and an electrical transformer was affected by a lightning strike in Curlewis,” he said.
“Crews at both calls helped secure the area and in the case of the Curlewis call helped to put out a grass fire before Essential Energy confirmed it was safe.”
Mr O’Reilly said the incidents were a timely reminder for locals to not become “complacent” about fire safety.
“The incidents last night were dealt with quickly thanks to the help of our great brigades and volunteers,” he said.
“But people need to remember that just because we have had some rain and it has cooled off a bit, we are still in the midst of summer and we still need to be prepared.
“It’s still important to have a fire plan and to have conversations with your family about what to do in case of an emergency.”
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology recorded 9mm of rainfall in Gunnedah during the storm and is predicting more hot days and potential storms in the coming days.
For more information about fire activity or to create a fire plan visit www.rfs.nsw.gov.au.