NSW RFS: Bushfire danger period will not be brought forward in Mid Lachlan Valley
Published Date: 16 Aug 2018
Summary
THE start of the bushfire danger period might have been brought forward in many areas of the state due to the drought conditions, but at this stage the Mid Lachlan Valley zone will not change.
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Currently, the entire state of NSW has been declared in drought and the extremely dry conditions have led to many NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) districts declaring an early bushfire danger period.
Many northern parts of the state commenced on August 1, the Chifley/Lithgow zone (which includes Bathurst, Lithgow and Oberon) will start on September 1.
However, the Mid Lachlan Valley RFS zone, which includes Parkes, Forbes and Grenfell, will remain at the statutory start date of October 1.
Mid Lachlan Valley district manager Ken Neville conditions were very dry and being monitored closely.
“It’s very dry, but people are still burning off safely,” he said.
“We will just continue to monitor it and discuss with our volunteers, but at this stage we’ll keep the statutory bushfire period.”
The bushfire danger period in the Mid Lachlan Valley zone will run from October 1 2018 until March 31 2019.
Mr Neville said, however, that it would not take much for a fire to take off in the region due to the conditions.
“The timbered areas will be our biggest risk and there’s always the possibility that we could get ignitions from lightning strikes which we can’t do anything about,” he said.
Mr Neville said care needs to be taken by anyone using equipment that creates sparks, such as angle grinders, welders, slashers or motorbikes.
“Make sure you’ve got the necessary precautions and don’t do these jobs on your own,” he said.
He also encouraged people to ensure they had adequate water supplies or firefighting equipment when using theses types of equipment near dry grassed areas.
