Controlled burn a summer essential
Published Date: 08 Dec 2014
Summary
A hazard reduction burn was conducted at Bourke Hill Mitchell Highway on Saturday.
Shortly after 9.30am, crew and volunteers with Fire and Rescue NSW and the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) ignited a controlled blaze on about 30 hectares of land.
Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Adam Dewberry said the bi-annual event was a necessity leading up Christmas period.
"Grass fires in particular can run very fast and spread quickly," Superintendent Dewberry said.
He the crews had been called out to a couple of emergencies in recent weeks.
"It's not just property that gets put at risk at times like this," he said.
"Infrastructure and livestock are at extremely high risk in the case of a fire."
Superintendent Dewberry said it was important for the hazard reduction burn to remain a bi-annual project, as opposed to a burn every year.
"We've got to work with conserving the environment and get the balance right," he said.
"If we burned off every year then we're increasing the chance of soil erosion."
Superintendent Dewberry said he was grateful for the assistance from the NSW RFS, with more than 30 volunteers on site for the hazard reduction burn.
"We've got about 20 people from Fire and Rescue NSW as well, but we couldn't have done this without the assistance from the RFS," he said.
"They are worth their weight in gold."
Superintendent Dewberry said residents should prepare for the worst in the lead up to the Christmas period.
"We always get hot and dry conditions out here so everyone needs to be prepared with a bushfire survival plan," he said.
