Bush fire risk in the Blue Mountains
This is your opportunity to provide feedback on how the risk of bush fire is managed across our area.
Fire agencies, land managers and other stakeholders have been working to identify ways of reducing the impact of fires on our area – protecting lives, homes, businesses, agriculture, the environment and other assets that are important to the Blue Mountains.
The local Bush Fire Management Committee has developed a draft Bush Fire Risk Management Plan, which identifies the risks and the plans to protect them.
The draft plan identifies the risk to communities and the assets we all value. Using feedback from fire agencies, land managers and other stakeholders, the plan identifies ways of reducing the impact of fires across our area.
Your input is important – and by planning together, we will help shape the Bush Fire Risk Management Plan for our area for the next five years.
How the Blue Mountains Bush Fire Risk Management Committee have assessed the risk
Fire is a part of living in the Blue Mountains. It has been a part of this landscape for millions of years.
As our population and region changes, the risk of fires impacting on our community has changed.
To understand the bush fire risk in the Blue Mountains, and help inform the best ways of managing and reducing the risk, we’ve looked at what’s important to local communities – including where people live, as well as environmental, economic and cultural assets.
We look at the assets across the landscape, and using computer modelling, we have tested scenarios for possible fire conditions to understand the impact on the community.
Managing the risk in the Blue Mountains
We have considered the risk to people and assets across the area to determine the most appropriate and effective way of managing that risk.
Some areas of the Blue Mountains were impacted by the 2019/20 bush fire season, and these areas may have a reduced potential for fires spreading until vegetation fully recovers.
There are some measures which apply broadly – such as vegetation management, development controls, bush fire education, and fire suppression activities. These activities reduce the bush fire risk to assets and communities throughout the area.
Where an unacceptable risk exists for a particular area or assets, additional targeted treatment strategies are planned during the next five-year period. These treatment options include:
- Fuel management – the reduction or modification of bush fire fuel with the intent of slowing the spread of bush fire and aiding firefighting operations. This may be identified as;
- Asset protection zones – these are typically close to homes, and provide a separation from the bushland to reduce the impact of fires, and give firefighters a safe place to work if protecting homes in a fire;
- Ignition management zones – areas in the landscape maintained at a reduced fuel level to minimise the propagation of ignitions and limit the rapid escalation of fires;
- Strategic fire advantage zones – these are areas across the broad landscape which, when treated, can help slow the spread of a fire across the landscape;
- Firebreaks – areas designed and managed to provide fuel reduced areas from which a fire can be suppressed.
- Ignition prevention – activities to prevent or reduce bush fire ignitions whether they be accidental or deliberate. This includes community preparedness programs, fuel management and specific actions in the Ignition Prevention Plan.
- Community preparedness – activities such as working with residents to improve their level of planning and preparation for a fire, to increase the survivability of their home and families in the event of a fire.
- Response – specific response requirements for a particular area or value in addition to standard procedures. This may include specific actions in the BFMC Plan of Operations or Fire Access and Fire Trail plan.
3-9 Valley Road,
Katoomba NSW 2780
PO Box 600
Katoomba NSW 2780
Blue Mountains Bush Fire Management Committee is made up of a range of stakeholders from the area including emergency services, land management agencies, local government and local aboriginal land services, and local community groups. This ensures key community stakeholders have a say on bush fire management activities for the benefit of their communities.
Blue Mountains Bush Fire Management Committee is made up of the following representatives:
- NSW Rural Fire Service
- NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (Crown Lands)
- Endeavour Energy
- Fire and Rescue NSW
- Local Aboriginal Land Council
- Nature Conservation Council of NSW
- NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
- NSW Police Force
- Transport for NSW
- Blue Mountains City Council
- Water NSW
- NSW Farmers’ Association
- Local Land Services
- Department of Defence
- Transgrid
- Sydney Water
- Sydney Trains
- Telstra
The Blue Mountains Bush Fire Management Committee (BFMC) area spans 143,168 hectares. The area covers the Local Government Area (LGA) of Blue Mountains and features National Park covering an area of 106,231ha.
The Blue Mountains area has approximately 96.03% bushland and 1.96% grassland with the balance being the built environment or water bodies. A bush or grass fire can happen at any time of the year, but the risk is higher during the warmer months, when bush, grass or scrub is drier.
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According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census Community Profile there are 34,093 residential dwellings in the Blue Mountains BFMC area with an approximate population of 74,547.
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According to the ABS data on the counts of Australian businesses, there were 3,011 businesses in the Blue Mountains BFMC area. The top three industries include Construction, Hiring and Real Estate Services and Professional, Scientific and Technical Services. These account for 48% of businesses in the BFMC area.
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The last major bush fire happened in the 2019/20 bush fire season with 68,094 hectares burnt.
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There are several valuable community assets across the area along with a number of culturally significant sites and environmentally important sites.