NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has scheduled two hazard reduction burns commencing on Friday 3 September in Bobbiwaa State Conservation Area (SCA), about 25 kilometres north of Narrabri, weather permitting.
Bobbiwaa SCA has a total area of 2692 hectares. These two burns are planned to cover a combined area of 76 hectares in the southwestern corner of the reserve.
National Parks and Wildlife Service Area Manager, Marty Lineham, said: "The objectives of the burns include reducing available fuels to mitigate the risks posed by wildfire, and to maintaining a healthy landscape providing suitable habitat for a range of native plants and wildlife."
This burn is one of many hazard reduction operations undertaken by NPWS across New South Wales each year, many with assistance from the Rural Fire Service and Fire and Rescue NSW.
Hazard reduction burns are essential to reduce bushfire fuel loads to help protect the parks, neighbours and communities from bushfires.
Hazard reduction is a critical function of fire services and land managers which continue to operate in accordance with Public Health Orders. Operations are conducted in a COVID-19 safe manner to ensure the safety of fire crews and the community.
COVID-19 safety briefings are provided to all staff who are required to wear masks along with their normal fire personal protective equipment. Contact tracing is also enabled via the QR code sign-in all fire crews must complete when starting.
Fire agencies and land managers will be working to limit the potential impact of smoke, such as through smoke modelling and adjusting the times and lighting patterns of the burn to reduce the likelihood of widespread smoke impact.
All burns across NSW will continue to be coordinated with the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) and details on specific burns will be made available in advance on the Rural Fire Service website, 'Fires Near Me' app, and on NPWS Alerts website.
For health information relating to smoke from bush fires and hazard reduction burning, visit the NSW Health website or the Asthma Foundation.
For up to date information on this/these, and other, planned hazard reduction activities, visit the Rural Fire Service website: NSW Rural Fire Service.
