RIVERINA residents who have limited domestic support are urged to contact the Rural Fire Service for help in preparing their properties to combat bush fires.
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The Assist Infirm, Disabled and Elderly Residents (AIDER) program is a free, one-off service that supports some of the community's at-risk members.
The program helps people live more safely and confidently in their home in areas where bushfires may start.
It is designed for older people, people living with a disability, and people who are receiving community assistance and services.
Their property must also be on bush fire prone land, which is land that can support a bush fire or be subject to bush fire attack.
The services may include clearing gutters, thinning vegetation, removing leaf and tree debris and mowing or slashing long grass.
Riverina Zone Operational Officer Bradley Stewart said: "What we find by undertaking those works is that they lift the level of protection for residents' homes".
"They re-establish firebreaks around the house and remove all those fine and lethal fuels that have accumulated over years.
"We know that about 95 per cent of houses destroyed by fire are destroyed because of ember attacks.
"So they're not directly impacted by the flames of a moving fire. It is the embers created on those elevated days that can enter the gutters or garden beds that have those accumulated fuels."
Mr Stewart said the works under the AIDER program reduces the risks of fire to the community.
- To apply for AIDER: 02 8741 4955 or aider@rfs.nsw.gov.au.