Mid Lachlan Valley staff, volunteers in fire fighting effort
Published Date: 08 Jan 2020
Summary
Our Rural Fire Service staff and volunteers have taken their place on the frontline as devastating fires have ravaged vast areas of the country.
View the Forbes Advocate story
Many of the Mid Lachlan Valley Team's staff and volunteers have been on permanent rotation since September, helping out at fires from the Queensland border to the South Coast: from Glen Innes, Tenterfield, Tamworth, Kemspey and all points north to the Mudgee area, to Bathurst, Lithgow, Blue Mountains and Sydney.
Staff from the Mid Lachlan Valley headquarters in Forbes are currently working at the Tumut, Cooma, and Mudgee fires.
Mid Lachlan Valley RFS members Jeff Boyd, Tim Perry, Brad Shephard, Mick Cantwell, Dave Stewart, Ben Haub, James Allen, Charlie French in a quiet moment. Photos by Farmer From Down Under Brad Shephard.
Two local strike teams of volunteers joined efforts in the southern region on Friday ahead of Saturday's anticipated horror conditions and spent the weekend carrying out property protection at Tumut and Adelong.
Another Strike Team is currently based in the Mudgee/Rylstone area.
Superintendent Ken Neville of the Mid Lachlan Valley Team would like to express his appreciation and thanks to the amazing support from the volunteers from Parkes, Forbes, Weddin and Lachlan council areas who have answered the call and have headed off to assist at so many fires over the past few months.
"Your contribution has been amazing," he said.
Given the ongoing drought conditions, the local fire threat remains reduced but Supt Neville thanked the community for remaining vigilant and reporting all incidents to 000.
Local crews were quick to respond to and extinguish some roadside ignitions on the Newell Highway suspected to be accidentally caused by motor vehicles.
Temperatures are forecast to warm up rapidly again, with a top of 40 expected Wednesday and Thursday and 44 degrees Friday.
Winds will be in the North to North East, and North West ahead of a southerly change Saturday.
Mid Lachlan Valley Rural Fire Service has fielded numerous enquiries about how people can help both our volunteers and those impacted by bushfires.
The Rural Fire Service website advises the best way is to donate money. There are a number of funds which have been established to support those affected.
These include:
Australian Red Cross Disaster Recovery and Relief - online at www.recross.org.au
Salvation Army Disaster Appeal - online at www.salvationarmy.org.au/donate/
St Vincent de Paul Society Bushfire Appeal (NSW) - online at donate.vinnies.org.au/
If you would like to support the NSW RFS you can go online to rfs.nsw.gov.au/volunteer/support-your-local-brigade to find out more.
The organisation has expressed its thanks to everyone who has offered to help.
