Crews from across the Riverina, including three members from the Forest Hill Rural Fire Brigade, have joined to help battle the blazes in Tumut.
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On Friday, January 18, a major bushfire emergency unfolded near Talbingo and fire fighters spent the day battling six fires around Tumut, which all started by overnight lightning.
The most significant fires are at the Little Talbingo Mountain, West Blowering Mountain on Dam Road and the Possum Point fires, which are blazing in the National Park.
Rural Fire Service public liaison officer Bradley Stewart said no properties are currently under threat at any of the six fires.
“We’re looking to commence back burning at Possum Point this afternoon, weather permitted, and most of our attention and resources will be focused in this area,” Mr Stewart said.
“Remote area firefighting specialists, along with aircraft, will be working on these fires over coming days.
“There are no threats to properties or road closures, however there are high voltage transmission lines in the area and they are electrified so we are working very hard to limit any disruption to that power supply.”
Mr Stewart said there are about 150 firefighters and over 50 fire trucks deployed to assist the fires.
“We’ve got crews from Shoal Haven, Nowra, Lake George in Queanbeyan, volunteers from Goulburn, Yass, Ganmain, Wagga and Forest Hill,” he said.
“We also have volunteers from Albury, Howlong, and the Mid-Murray Zone, Deniliquin and the Sydney-based Remote Area Firefighting Team.
“We have over 10 aircraft; a mixture of water-bombing helicopters, Erickson-Air-Crane and a specialty plane fitted with a flotation pontoon, which has a quick turn-around.”
The crews will also be using heavy equipment, such as four bulldozers and a fully-staffed incident management team with volunteers and staff from the NSW RFS, National Park and Wildlife Services will be there to support residents and crews.
The Possums Point and West Blowering Road fires will see an increase in smoke, which will likely impact residents and visitors in the Talbingo, Tumut, Tooma, Khancoban and Blowering Dam areas.
Mr Stewart said “it has been a long few days” and while there are currently no road closures, he advised motorists to exercise caution.
“Motorists are asked to exercise caution due to the increased movements of fire trucks and the potential for smoke impacting the roads throughout the Snowy Valleys area,” he said.
“Residents should stay informed, keep updated research on our Facebook page and web page, listen to 96.3 FM Sounds of the Mountains and ring the Bushfire Information Line on 1800 679 737.
“We’re very confident but Possum Point will likely take at least a week or longer to get into a sound and safe position and that will be weather dependent.”
