AS the dust settles on the second catastrophic fire to rock the Warrumbungle Shire in four years, it’s a timely reminder to revisit the lessons learned from the first one.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In 2013 the Wambelong fire near Coonabarabran burnt out 54,000ha and destroyed 53 homes, as well as sheds, agricultural machinery, livestock and infrastructure at the Siding Spring Observatory and the Warrumbungle National Park.
In its wake the NSW government and the coroner embarked on separate inquiries to report on the causes and management of the fire.
In February 2015 the NSW Legislative Council presented its inquiry on the Wambelong fire to parliament and in September 2015 the coroner presented its recommendations. The government responded in March 2016, promising a suite of measures to help the NSW Rural Fire Service reduce hazards, better predict and access fires.
Here’s some what NSW government have delivered to date:
It has funded 10 regionally-based RFS mitigation crews. In 2016/17 the NSW Government committed to investing $37.9m to support hazard reduction programs.
The NSW RFS now has four portable weather balloons, located in all four of the RFS regions. On advice the balloons are deployed to locations with the potential for fires. Four additional fire behaviour analysts have been appointed by the NSW RFS and are based in Grafton, Batemans Bay, Young and Hornsby. Another six full time analysts are now based at NSW RFS Headquarters; and a full time meteorologist is based at the Bureau of Meteorology.
In September legislation was passed to connect the thousands of existing fire trails across NSW.
