Hastings in haze as fires burn out of control

MANNING RIVER TIMES: Fire outbreak across the Manning

SUNDAY UPDATE: JUST three fires remain active for volunteer firefighters in the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council area on Sunday.

And each is in inaccessible areas of Brombin, Mt Seaview and Bellangry.

Rural Fire Service operations officer Richard Petch said these fires were being monitored.

"The only fires remaining now are in inaccessible areas," he said.

"All other fires are down to patrols and keeping them in containment lines. Crews are still patrolling and monitoring these fires and will continue to work through Sunday and into Monday.

"With the three outstanding fires, crews will go to areas where they can actually see them and monitor their progress. By our maps we can also monitor if there are any properties under threat too.

"If we can gain access with vehicles, crews will then go in and deal with those fires.

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"I understand that there could be aircraft and a helicopter in the area from Monday."

Mr Petch said crews would work through Sunday to clean up accessible fires and make sure they are all out.

"We will then concentrate our resources on any new outbreaks."

Mr Petch again praised the work ethic of the volunteers.

"Their commitment is just extraordinary, as is the work of the communications teams too," he said.

Meanwhile fires in the Greater Taree City Council area were also under control as of Sunday.

Volunteer firefighters were busy ensuring any fires were kept within containment lines.

In further good news for firefighters, weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutschke said winds had now reached their peak for the week.

"Sunday will see winds gradually decreasing but they will change direction from a westerly to a southerly direction as those winds drop off," he said.

"Monday and Tuesday will will quite light winds but they may fluctuate in direction a bit. They will generally be from a westerly to a southerly direction, which is not an uncommon directional change for this time of the year.

"Wednesday is the next chance for winds to pick up with a low pressure trough passing through. Although it is weak, it will feature north westerly winds picking up with a sea breeze in the afternoon."

Mr Dutschke said there will be a brief southerly change on Thursday.

On the rainfall front, there will be a few showers on Sunday and Monday but not much away from the coast.

"It then looks like drying out with the next best chance for rain on Thursday night or possibly Friday," he said.

Sunday should reach a maximum of 17 degrees with temperatures increasing a degree or two until a drop on Thursday.

SATURDAY UPDATE: FIRES are continuing to burn across much of the Port Macquarie-Hastings and Greater Taree City council areas on Saturday.

Rural Fire Service operations officer Richard Petch said resources had been allocated on Saturday across both regions.

“We have several fires burning through Port Macquarie-Hastings and Greater Taree areas, but no property is, at this stage, under threat,” Mr Petch said.

“The service has allocated resources on fires that we can get too.

“Reconnaissance is underway on several other fires so that we can find out exactly where and how big these fires are.”

Mr Petch confirmed that all permits for fires, including burn-offs, had been suspended until further notice.

The operations officer also praised the efforts of volunteer fire fighters for their work.

“These volunteers are working around the clock and are doing a great job in this area,” he said.

“This is what they train for and they are effectively working well across a big region.

“I would also encourage families to be fire prepared and to log onto the RFS website to get the latest details on preparation for the fire season.”

Local fires:

Redbank – There is a small fire at Redbank but RFS personnel are now down to just one patrol on Saturday. This fire is officially ‘blacked out’ and has been handed back to the landowner.

“But crews will go back out there and patrol it through the afternoon,” Mr Petch added.

Bago Road – Volunteers and forestry units are working to contain this fire which is currently around 70 hectares in size.

“We have nine forestry units and 13 RFS volunteers including a group officer at this fire,” Mr Petch said.

Brombin – This fire is now under control

Plomer Road – The RFS has one unit on site at this fire.

Comboyne – One unit is still monitoring this fire on Saturday and have been undertaking some mopping up operations and patrolling the fire.

Greater Taree City Council

Hillview – “This fire is taking considerable resources with a group officer and six units including 22 volunteers, currently working to control this fire,” Mr Petch said.

“We are also still trying to determine just how big of an area this fire is taking up.”

Call triple-0 in all fire emergency situations.

Earlier report:

MUCH of the Port Macquarie Hastings area remained in a haze on Friday as a number of fires across the region burned out of control. 

The official start of the bush fire season kept NSW RURAL Fire Services crews across the region busy as they battled grass fires in Mt Seaview, Comboyne, Byabarra, Sancrox and Lake Innes.

Fire crews from Laurieton worked to contain a bush fire on Pipeclay Rd, Brombin on Friday afternoon before rushing to Comboyne and Byabarra where three new fires had started.

A spokeman from the Laurieton crew urged the public to be vigilent.

"I would discourage anyone from even lighting a match right now," he said.

The NSW RFS has commenced the danger period across the North Coast, Mid North Coast and the New England Tablelands due to continuing dry conditions, with fire permits required from today.

NSW RFS Inspector Tim Butcher is urging residents to complete a Bush Fire Survival Plan and ensure all members of the household know what to do on days of increased fire danger and if their home is threatened by fire.

Residents should prepare their property by removing flammable materials from their yards, clearing gutters of leaves, checking hoses and, where appropriate, conducting hazard reduction activities.

"While it is important to continue hazard reduction we have all seen the devastation that bush fires can bring to a community, so I strongly urge people to exercise caution when carrying out these activities," Inspector Butcher said.

"Residents can ask their local Fire Control Centre for assistance in carrying out safe hazard reductions and for advice about whether they need a Bush Fire Hazard Reduction Certificate.

"With spring & summer conditions becoming more conducive to the spread of fire, people need to be extremely careful when using fire."

For more updates on fires near you, go to: http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/ 

Source: Wauchope Gazette