FIREFIGHTERS are turning their attention to hazard reduction work over coming weeks as the recent fire danger season comes to an end.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
However, far from the common misconception of simply burning off a paddock, the ongoing efforts involve a great deal of time and research.
Hazard reduction work can come in the form of grazing, slashing, spraying, and burning, but NSW Rural Fire Service Riverina Zone Operational Officer Bradley Stewart said the first port of call when planning the work was to determine the locations at risk.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Determining fire threat:
According to Mr Stewart, much of the work revolves around the Bushfire Risk Management Plan.
"That document has all assets in the Riverina zone mapped out," he said.
"It shows us where strategic fire advantage zones are and allows us to access funding through the state."
Areas around Pomingalarna, Silverlite Reserve, Willans Hill, Rocky Hill and behind Lake Albert are all marked as strategic fire advantage zones.
"Whereas all the land north of Travers street in the wetlands and around North Wagga are not included in that zoning," Mr Stewart said.
When it comes to determining specific risk and priority for hazard reduction, Mr Stewart said it was a matter of weighing up assets.
"We don't look at individual properties on their own, we look at assets of individual communities which may include things like schools, things of economic value, residential value, the environmental worth of a community," he said.
Managing 550km of fire trails across the region and working with 209 individual property owners to gain access proves to be a mammoth task, and Mr Stewart said it took more than just the firefighters to assess.
"We have a bushfire management committee with is formed with the RFS, NSW Farmers, Fire and Rescue NSW, police, Transport for NSW, ARTC, John Holland Country Rail, Essential Energy, Nature Conservation, Department of Defence National Parks, Forestry Corporation and all four councils in the zone," he said.
"On top of that though, we have smoke towers up in the Murraguldrie area and Burngoogee, which detect ignitions early for quicker response.
"They have been known to detect smoke coming off the back of Willans Hill from Burngoogee on a good day before we are even taking Triple Zero calls."
Once the fire risk has been assessed, the next step is to look at any roadblocks to performing the actual hazard reduction work.
Determining risk to environment:
Areas of fire risk within the same city can vary vastly in the number of conditions that must be met to ensure minimal damage to the existing ecosystem, according to Mr Stewart.
While for one area, it may be a matter of simply notifying the public and burning around the base of a few trees, other zones will have set times of the year to perform the work, consultation with various community groups involved and a thorough analysis of threatened species living in the area.
Mr Stewart said a prime example of the stark contrast was comparing the recent Willans Hill burn to ongoing plans for hazard reduction work in the Wilks Park area of North Wagga.
"The environmental approval for the Willans Hill burn needed seven conditions to be met, which was essentially a copy of the permission, having the burn carried out in a mapped area identified, following regulations and such," he said.
"The Wilks Park area, on the other hand, has 37 conditions that need to me met."
Those 37 conditions centred around the site's "significant environmental value", according to Mr Stewart, with the presence of threatened species such as the superb parrot, squirrel gliders, owls, bats and more.
"The Bushfire Environmental Assessment Code outlines threatened species and the accompanying things you can't do if they are present," he said.
"For example, with the Blakely's red gum in Wilks Park, you can only have a fire once every five years regardless of the fuel loads, and there's no slashing, trittering or tree removal allowed."
The area of North Wagga also holds significant cultural value being a place of Aboriginal significance, which Mr Stewart said means activities such as burning within 20 metres of the river, slashing, trittering, moving earth-moving equipment around certain trees, dragging hoses and equipment over Aboriginal sites and more and prohibited.
"We also must have discussions with the Aboriginal conservation officers and local community, and gain their permission before anything is done," he said.
Waiting game:
When all permissions, planning and appropriate conditions are met, performing hazard reduction work such as burning can often be a waiting game.
The weather plays a huge role in dictating when firefighters can begin a burn.
"You basically need it to be dry enough for the fuel loads to actually ignite, but then hope for the rain once it's complete to help extinguish the burn," Mr Stewart said.
"If you study the weather long enough, you can start to notice those windows of opportunity, although, they often only appear a week out so you have to be quick to prepare."
However, with zones such as Wilks Park, the environmental assessment conditions only allow for burning off between May and July, which according to Mr Stewart is generally damp.
"It's very hard to get a burn in within that time, so you could potentially have that plan sit there for several years until it can actually be carried out," he said.
"Whereas the recent Willians Hill burn was enacted within just four days."
What you can do:
Incorrect disposal of a household's green waste is one of the most frustrating things firefighters come across in residential areas, according to Mr Stewart.
"We see it all the time, particularly up the back of Bourkelands area, where people just dump their green waste in piles over the back fence and into the reserve," he said.
"That completely undermines all our efforts of hazard reduction in those areas because a, it creates new fuel and new risks, and b, some of that organic matter can actually establish itself in the environment and damage habitats and things like that."
At the end of the day, the professional RFS staff and volunteers are well-trained and well-equipped to carry out whatever work is needed to protect the community.
Less than 7 per cent of the Wagga LGA's land is untouched by clearing and development, while 98 per cent of the area is privately owned and out of the RFS' hands when it comes to public hazard reduction work.
But Mr Stewart said they work closely with all land holders and community members to assess risks, plan hazard reduction work and keep Wagga safe from fire.
"On a recent severe fire danger rating day, we had two ignitions over in North Wagga, and within 15 minutes, we had in excess of 10 or 12 RFS appliances there," he said.
"Within 20 minutes of the first Triple Zero call, we had an aircraft overheard and Fire and Rescue on scene, so about 20 fire trucks from both agencies and an aircraft ready to fight.
"We are extremely well protected in this community in regards to fire, and the community should feel safe and secure knowing that."