While the Great Lakes continues to battle bushfires, hot, strong winds and temperatures which topped out at 35 degrees in Forster Tuncurry, snow is predicted in the alps.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Due to the forecast hot and windy conditions the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) has extended the total fire ban for the North Coast (Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Kempsey, Nambucca, Mid Coast) to tomorrow, Friday, November 8.
The Mid Coast LGA has been graded severe.
Bans also will cover Far North Coast (extreme) - Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley, Tweed; Greater Hunter (very high) - Cessnock, Dungog, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Muswellbrook, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Singleton, Upper Hunter; New England (extreme) - Glen Innes Severn, Tenterfield, Uralla, Walcha, Armidale and Northern Slopes (severe) - Gunnedah, Gwydir, Inverell, Liverpool Plains, Tamworth.
The RFS has provided the the following advice:
Under extreme fire conditions:
- Homes that are specially designed and constructed to withstand a bush fire, prepared to the highest level and actively defended may provide safety
- Follow your Bush Fire Survival Plan and know when you will leave, where you will go and how you will get there. Know what you will do if you cannot leave
- Leaving early in the day is your safest option
- Keep informed by listening to local radio, watching television news broadcasts and monitoring www.rfs.nsw.gov.au.
Under severe and very sigh fire conditions:
- Well prepared homes that are actively defended can provide safety during a fire
- Follow your Bush Fire Survival Plan and remain vigilant
- Keep informed by listening to local radio, watching television news broadcasts and monitoring www.rfs.nsw.gov.au.
No fires may be lit in the open and all fire permits are suspended during a Total Fire Ban. Gas and electric barbeques may be used provided certain conditions are met. Total Fire Ban rules and a map of current Total Fire Ban areas are listed at www.rfs.nsw.gov.au.
The bushfire in Goldens Road, Forster has been upgraded from advice to watch and act.
Watch and act indicates there is a heightened level of threat.
According to the Fires Near Me app, "conditions are changing and you need to start taking action now to protect you and your family".
However, the fire is listed 'being controlled'; "effective strategies are in operation or planned for the entire perimeter."
