ARE YOU PREPARED?
The 2021-2022 Bush Fire Danger Period commences for Greater Sydney on the 1st of October 2021. With this, residents within the Hornsby LGA will require 2 forms of permission to conduct a pile burn, one from Hornsby Council available on their website, and one from Hornsby Fire Control Centre by calling on 9883 2015 during business hours. Once you’ve received your permissions, you will still need to notify NSW RFS along with your neighbour’s a minimum of 24hrs before lighting that pile. You can provide notification by contacting the RFS by visiting www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/notify
Arcadia has been busy in the recent months, attending various incident calls, including the structure fires at the Dural Christmas Tree Farm and Peats Bite Restaurant, where members provided CABA support (compressed air breathing apparatus) and many other. Alongside these incident calls, members have been conducting hazard reduction burns in the local area. The largest of these was the Mt Orient hazard reduction in Berrilee and the Fiddletown hazard reduction.
The purpose of these hazard reductions is to contribute to the local fuel management program by reducing bush fire fuel loads, providing local assets with protection, and creating refuges for threatened flora and fauna. Hazard reduction burns are just one tool that assists in reducing bush fire fuel, but it does not remove the threat of bush fires entirely. You can also reduce bush fire fuels through basic property maintenances, for example mowing lawns and cleaning up debris, however if you have a large area of bush please feel free to talk to the brigade. To be prepared for a bush fire it is important to understand the risks you may face in your area, and what challenges your home, property, family, or pets may pose. It is important to have a plan for different scenarios, and everyone understands the plan, including children. Visit www.myfireplan.com.au and start creating your plan today!
At the end of September, Arcadia station said farewell to our category 9 light vehicle, which has moved to Galston Rural Fire Brigade and will provide a strategic benefit for the area. Arcadia brigade now has a Category 6 Heavy Tanker, this vehicle is now well placed at Arcadia, to support the many communities around the area with the ability to provide larger volumes of water straight to the incident, especially as most of the 10,000ha that the Arcadia brigade looks after, has no mains water supply. The Category 6 also has strong firefighting capabilities, not just water supply and it will also be used as a stand-alone vehicle at various incidents.