New Fire Danger Ratings

New fire danger ratings have been implemented across New South Wales.

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The new Fire Danger Ratings have four levels instead of six – Moderate, High, Extreme and Catastrophic.
When there is minimal risk, Fire Danger Rating signs will be set to ‘No rating’.

This is the white wedge sitting under Moderate.

For each level, there is a specific action

Moderate – plan and prepare.

High – be ready to act.

Extreme – take action now to protect your life and property.

Catastrophic – for your survival, leave bushfire risk areas.

Bushfire Danger Period

The NSW Rural Fire Service reminds residents that the bush fire danger period for Port Stephens does not start until 1 October 2022.

At this stage, for the LGAs of Cessnock, Dungog, Maitland and Port Stephens, no permits are required until 1 October.

Diesel Spill

In the early afternoon of 1 September, members from the Raymond Terrace Fire & Rescue were called to a diesel spill at Heatherbrae.

On arrival, it was found that a truck fuel tank had been ruptured and was leaking diesel fuel.

With assistance from Fire & Rescue NSW Heavy Hazmat Newcastle station, the tank was temporarily sealed, and the remaining diesel on the ground was absorbed using specialist booms and absorbent materials.

The remaining diesel was decanted into a Hazardous Material bin for proper disposal.

ID Support

The nation-leading ID Support NSW team is helping save customer information from malicious actors by identifying credentials which have been stolen from personal devices by malicious software (malware) attacks and posted on the dark web.

Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Victor Dominello said the Department of Customer Service ID Support NSW team was working closely with Cyber Security NSW, the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) and NSW Police to monitor the dark web.

“We are in a war with cyber criminals and in most instances, customers wouldn’t be aware their details had been stolen from their phones or laptops and put on the dark web,” Mr Dominello said.

“This can happen when malware is inadvertently installed on a device after visiting a dodgy website or clicking on an unsafe link.

“We set up ID Support NSW to ensure we could streamline the process to remedy compromised credentials in the instance they had been stolen or misused.”

Where ID Support NSW does find information on the dark web, the team will proactively notify people and work with them to remove the malware, remedy their credentials and protect their information.

By Tara CAMPBELL