Snowy Monaro Rural Fire Service is urging residents to be aware of ignition management and prevention to assist in reducing the bushfire risk over the Christmas and new year period. NSW Rural Fire Service - Monaro Team, Inspector Langdon Gould, said the current dry conditions following limited to no rain combined with extended periods of dry winds over recent months have resulted in a very fire prone landscape, with no clear indication of any change to this over the Christmas period. The conditions are so dry, local farmers have been de-stocking or finding agistment elsewhere, with ground water disappearing fast which affects the landholders' ability to potentially fight fires on or near their property. "The community's focus needs to be on prevention of ignitions - primarily focusing on cooking or recreational fires, but also practices in the open areas, ie, avoiding hot works, slashing and mowing in the windier parts of the day," Inspector Gould said. "If you must do any slashing, mowing or hot works, do it early in the morning or evenings, ensuring there is no wind at those times. Have fire protection equipment on site should an ignition occur. These conditions we currently have across the landscape will be very prone to fires igniting and the community needs to be very aware and vigilant." Inspector Gould said he cannot stress enough that the NSW RFS Snowy Monaro District does not want ignitions in the landscape. "It's a very clear message. Most days recently there's been more fire permit suspensions than not," he said. "We stand ready to respond to incidents as they occur, however we prefer prevention rather than having to apply a cure. "So we are asking the community to take great care in preventing ignitions from occurring." He added that to date, the community has been responsible and responsive to this message. "Over the previous weeks we've been promoting warning messages, and we thank those persons who have used their discretion and have not gone ahead with activities that might have started fires. "We thank those community members and ask the community to continue to heed and observe the warnings during this prolonged dry period."
