National Parks and Wildlife take steps towards minimalising threat of bushfire
Published Date: 10 Oct 2014
Summary
NATIONAL Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has been busy carrying out a hazard reduction in the southern section of Goonoo National Park near Dubbo.
Last week was stage two of a burn that began in March where an edge perimeter was burnt in.
Photos provided by National Parks and Wildlife Service
The most recent stage involved dropping aerial incendiaries from a helicopter so the fire could burn to that perimeter.
The hazard reduction, which covered about 900 hectares, was aimed at reducing fuel loads in the area in order to stop wildfires spreading if they
broke out in the region.
The burn was monitored for several days following the operation by NPWS crews.
A spokesperson for the organisation said landholders near Dubbo may have noticed large smoke plumes at the time, which were the result of varying volatility in the
fuels.
"For example, acacias tend to create smoke," the spokesperson said. "Weather conditions on the ground were tested before the burn commenced."
The burn was one of several hazard reduction operations being conducted across western NSW as NPWS prepared for the summer
fire danger period.
It was part of the NSW government's $62.5 million package to boost bushfire preparedness and double hazard reduction in the state's national parks where conditions allowed.
NPWS planned to burn an average of over 135,000 hectares per year through more than 800 individual hazard reduction activities.
