A pre-emptive Section 44 State of Emergency has been declared for the Hawkesbury from 9am on Saturday, February 11, Hawkesbury Fire Control has advised.
Hawkesbury Fire Control Officer Karen Hodges said this meant she has been appointed incident controller for all firefighting agencies for the weekend – RFS, Fire & Rescue and National Parks.
“It also means we will be on really high alert from then,” she said, adding there had been no fires yet, “touch wood!”.
It’s no surprise a statewide total fire ban has just been imposed for the weekend, with the latest forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology indicating weather conditions will continue to deteriorate across the weekend.
While the central west and the Hunter were forecast to reach ‘Catastrophic’ level fire danger conditions this weekend, Ms Hodges said our area would fall just short.
“The Hawkesbury will only get to Very High level of danger on Saturday, and Severe to Extreme on Sunday,” Superintendent Hodges said.
“At least we’ll have first dibs on the VLAT and LAT!” she said. (These are the water-carrying firefighting DC-10 and Hercules based at Richmond RAAF Base, the acronyms standing for Very Large Air Tanker and Large Air Tanker.)
NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the weekend's temperatures won’t be the end of the story.
“This will be coupled with strong and gusty winds, and low humidity,” he said. “We are likely to see broad areas under Severe and Extreme fire danger ratings.”
He said any fire that started in catastrophic conditions would be “extremely difficult to control”.
“Do not be in bushfire-prone areas during Catastrophic conditions,” he warned.
During a total fire ban, no fires may be lit in the open and all fire permits are suspended. Gas and electric barbecues may be used provided certain conditions are met. Lighting a fire on a day of Total Fire Ban attracts an on the spot fine of $2200.
The penalty for tossing a lit cigarette doubles during a Total Fire Ban from $660 to $1320. Report vehicles with butt tossers on the RFS website or call the Bush Fire Information Line on 1800 679 737.
Total Fire Ban rules and a map of current Total Fire Ban areas are at www.rfs.nsw.gov.au.
