Good Evening Everyone,
On Thursday, hot, dry and windy conditions are expected to increase fire dangers to dangerous levels in parts of NSW.
A TOTAL FIRE BAN has been declared for tomorrow, Thursday 1 October 2009.
The Commissioner, NSW Rural Fire Service will TOTALLY BAN THE LIGHTING OF FIRES from midnight tonight [Wednesday 30th of September] until midnight tomorrow night [Thursday 1st of September] in the following NSW Fire Areas:
Greater Hunter, Illawarra/Shoalhaven, Far South Coast, Lower Central West Plains, Northern Riverina, Greater Sydney Region.
The Blue Mountains Local Government Area is part of the Greater Sydney Region Fire Area.
What does this mean?
I'm glad you asked. Today will be warm, dry and windy. This combination can effect fire behaviour and cause smaller fires to increase in size and intensity quite rapidly. The lower-than-average humidity and strong winds - even in the absence of high temperatures - is of greatest concern.
Volunteer Firefighters from the NSW Rural Fire Service will be on stand-by at a number of locations throughout the area from 10am Thursday morning.
What can I do?
Be aware. If a bushfire does get going, the situation can change very quickly.
During days of Very High or Extreme Fire Danger, and on days where a Total Fire Ban has been declared, we will be doing our best to keep everyone informed of any major incidents that might impact on our community. This may not necessarily be a fire in the Blue Mountains, but even a fire in another area can send significant amounts of smoke in our direction.
If you are away from your email, but have internet access, you can keep yourself informed if anything is happening by checking our Updates Blog - http://ruralfirebm.blogspot.com/ - where a copy of every message send out to this list will automatically be posted.
If you see a fire, report it immediately by calling '000' and asking for the Fire Brigade!
Stay safe,
Eric.
