Heatwave: Firefighters on alert in hot, dry conditions

Very hot, dry weather has been predicted for the Central West for the remainder of 2018, with NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) crews closely monitoring conditions.

RFS Canobolas Zone membership services co-ordinator Nils Waite said the Conimbla National Park was the area of greatest concern.

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“The forested areas are the worst for us, it’s areas west of Cowra in the Conimbla Forest [National Park] that we are most concerned about,” he said.

While some rain has fallen in the lead-up to Christmas, the long-running drought and hot summer weather has left firefighters concerned.

“It’s going to be hot and dry for the next week and we’ve just been fortunate that we’ve had a couple of rain events leading up to Christmas,” he said.

Despite the rain, he has urged people to be mindful of activities that could inadvertently start a fire.

Primary producers have been urged to only conduct “farming practices” in the early morning or very late afternoon.

READ MORE: ‘Extreme heatwave’ is bringing a hot end to 2018 for Central West

“If they’re going to be doing any slashing, or anything that can create sparks, do it very early or very late when the conditions are milder,” Mr Waite said.

For people who are going camping during the festive period, he said some fires could be lit, but only under strict conditions.

“They can have cooking fires but only on days where there’s no TOBAN [total fire ban]. On fire ban days only a gas or electric fire will be allowed,” he said.

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No fire permits will be granted for people in the Canobolas zone during the Christmas/new year period.

Mr Waite has, however, thanked the public for their vigilance so far during this bushfire season.

“Thus far the public has been very good and very careful and we’d like them to continue doing that,” he said.