Some of the RFS officers came from as far away as Taree and Kempsey, due to the fact that the Mid Coast RFS District covers 14,000 square kilometres and two Local Government Areas (LGAs).

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The officers were in the area to inspect several vacant blocks of land in the old subdivision of Pindimar, in anticipation of Hazard Reduction (HR) burns.

“The RFS is not a land manager, it is a fire-fighting agency; but it has the power to issue notices to landholders to clear up their fire-prone vegetation,” said RFS Mid Coast District Inspector Darrin Briggs.

Should landowners ignore the offer by RFS to help reduce bushfire hazards, there are further measures that the service will take, but it eats into the limited time window for such vital actions.

“Mother Nature has not been helpful in conducting HR burns, with weather patterns these last few years, we have seen too much wet, followed by strong winds, and then it gets too dry.

“Most of the eastern seaboard has suffered this scenario.”

“We have HR burn plans sitting on the shelf, waiting for weather patterns and conditions to allow us to conduct them safely, including two for the Pindimar area.”

The RFS officers shared the frustrations of local residents and landowners at the repeated delays, especially as they could look out the window of the PBCA hall and see rather overgrown sclerophyll bushland mere metres away, all future bushfire fuel.

There are other forms of hazard reduction that may need to be pursued, including mitigation actions, asset protection zones, and manual clearing, none of which would be as effective as a decent HR burn.

The rules governing what the RFS can and cannot do are spawned from a number of pieces of legislation, suggesting that there is more that could be done at a government level.

In the meantime, while Mid Coast District residents and RFS operatives alike await better conditions, there are plenty of preparation measures locals can take.

“Residents seriously need to have their Bush Fire Survival Plans ready, and ideally only have one per household, of which all members are aware,” said Inspector Briggs.

Bush Fire Survival Plans can be picked up from the local RFS station, ordered or done online, and will also be available at the coming RFS display at Motorfest on Myall Park, Hawks Nest on 8 March – just look for the big red truck.

By Thomas O’KEEFE