Rain gives firefighters a well-deserved rest
Published Date: 06 Jan 2016
Summary
RAIN across the past couple of weeks has eased the load on Orana volunteer firefighters, run off their feet for most of December.
By Kim Bartley
They attended "several fires a day" until 30 to 35 millimetres (mm) fell on the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) region of Dubbo, Wellington and Narromine in the 24-hour period to 9am December 23.
NSW Rural Fire Service Superintendent Lyndon Wieland.
Grass fires at Dubbo's Rosedale Road and Mugga Downs were among the incidents that kept the RFS Orana Team on its toes, one of them considered to have been started by a mower or slasher.
Team manager Superintendent Lyndon Wieland said in the hectic weeks before Christmas a woolshed about 30 kilometres south of Wellington was "completely lost" and a couple of fires took off on the Parkes Road out of Wellington, one of them scorching 15 hectares of land.
"One of these fires we believe was deliberately lit and the other started accidentally by some sort of a trailer behind a car," he said.
Since the pre-Christmas rain the Orana team has been attending "smaller incidents".
"Last weekend there was a boat trailer on fire on Burrendong Way near Wellington and stolen cars burned out between Wongarbon and Geurie, and at Mugga Downs," Superintendent Wieland said.
The team leader continues to urge Orana residents to be careful and vigilant.
"As soon as the heat picks up it will dry things off," he said.
"The rain at the moment has certainly given us a green shoot, but you've only got to get one day of 40 degrees with hot northerly winds and that will be gone again.
"We've got a long way to go until we're out of the fire danger period."
Since 9am on December 22 Dubbo has received 36.4mm of rain, including 0.8mm in the 24-hour period to 9am Tuesday.
The fire season traditionally runs from October 1 to March 31.
