The fire danger season has been moved forward in the Northern Tablelands and New England following a spate of recent burn-offs that have got out of control.
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At least ten letters have been issued to private landholders in the New England following irresponsible hazard reduction burns, including the burning of large piles of timber.
In almost all instances neighbours and fire authorities were not told of the proposed burns, leading to the RFS actioning the Bushfire Danger Period as of Wednesday August 1.
In all there were 142 hazard reduction burns in NSW on properties in the last week that ended up getting out of control.
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Locally the Tamworth region will not be impacted by the early restrictions, although residents in 10 other regions including Walcha, Guyra, Armidale, Glen Innes, Uralla, Tenterfield, Inverell and the Clarence Valley will have to apply for permits for any hazard reduction action.
Tamworth Zone Manager Allyn Purkis said that while there is “no real danger in Tamworth at the moment” the New England and Tableland areas are about to hit the windiest month of the year.
“Those escape burns are pretty standard for this time of year – landholders realise that they will soon need permits so start throwing matches around and burning off without containing them properly,” he said.
Although many of the escaped fires started on a calm day, landholders had not seen the forecast for strong winds in the following days
- RFS manager Liz Ferris
“Under the permits we can put conditions in that include containment lines and other measures.”
While there is not much fuel left on the plains surrounding the Tamworth region, Superintendent Purkis is concerned with the amount of dieback affecting large trees, as well as the increase in pine needles and other leaf now on the ground in the hills because of the drought.
“We will look at the Danger Period in Tamworth closer to September, and if we have another late winter might push that back to October,” he said.
Meanwhile acting New England RFS manager Liz Ferris is urging landholders to refer to look at forecasts before lighting fires.
“Although many of the escaped fires started on a calm day, landholders had not seen the forecast for strong winds in the following days,” she said.
“It is important that fire controllers are told about intended burns as well as neighbours so that volunteer firefighters time is not wasted if fires get out of control.”
