NSW bushfire inquiry: Call for Snowy Valleys and Riverina to give Dunns Road testimony

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Thursday that there would be an inquiry into the 2019-20 bushfire season "to provide input to NSW ahead of the next season".

Riverina political leaders have welcomed the move by Ms Berejiklian to establish an inquiry with terms of reference that include "consideration of any role of weather, drought, climate change, fuel loads and human activity".

Mouats Farm owner and Batlow apple orchardist Greg Mouat said the inquiry should highlight the region's residents and landowners who pitched in to assist official fire crews.

"There were a lot of locals in the outlying areas who set themselves up with their own firefighting unit, a little five horsepower pump and a tank on the back of their 'slip-on', as they call it, on the back of their ute," he said.

"The government could encourage and give subsidies for not only apple growers but landowners in the area to have something to quickly load on their utes.

"They were dubbed the 'slip-on army' in Batlow and that saved a huge amount of property: individuals who are not necessarily members of the Rural Fire Service doing their own thing on their own properties."

Snowy Valleys Council mayor James Hayes said "the effectiveness of the slip-on fleet" should also be looked at under the inquiry's "broad" terms.

"I don't think you could ask for better terms," Cr Hayes said.

"A lot of people have told me after the fires that this thing or that thing needs to be looked at.

"It will give us the option to further investigate issues like roadside vegetation, controlled burning, track maintenance and what worked and what didn't work."

The inquiry's announcement came as Riverina RFS crews make their way to the Dunns Road fire to shore up containment lines ahead of more hot weather on the weekend.

Former NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Owens and former NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer Professor Mary O'Kane will lead the six-month inquiry to review "the causes of, preparation for and response to the bushfires".

"NSW is incredibly proud of the efforts of all our emergency services personnel and volunteers throughout this ongoing bushfire season, but the scale of these fires has been unprecedented and we must leave no stone unturned," Ms Berejiklian said.

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Tumbarumba's Union Hotel licensee Martin Wilton said the inquiry should hear from people who were "on the ground" during the Dunns Road bushfire.

"We were the area that was forgotten about; it was all about the coastal areas and the fires from Eden to Mallacoota," he said.

"I'm not trying to compare fires but they need to have people on this inquiry who were actually on the ground.

"Otherwise they are not going to get to the bottom of it."

Independent Wagga MP Joe McGirr welcomed the inquiry as he had previously called for a faster state-level bushfire probe in addition to any federal royal commission.

"It looks to me that the terms of reference are quite detailed and comprehensive," he said.

"However, I think there needs to be included a review of the operation of the evacuation centres and, in particular, how we handle and distribute donations and how we can make best use of volunteers.

"Those were things that I think people felt a bit frustrated by."

Dr McGirr said it was good to see climate change included in the inquiry along with "fuel loads, drought and necessary preparation".