Fire fighting volunteers and brigade members are anticipating a busy fire season as a number of small fires continue to keep crews on the job in New England and beyond.
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New England RFS crews have been working through the past week to control numerous class one fires burning in the Gibraltar Range and Washpool National parks between Glen Innes and Tenterfield.
Glen Innes brigade captain said local fire fighters are currently assisting RFS in refuelling helicopters to control burning in the two national parks.
“It will be a bad season, I think,” Mr Sharman said.
“It has started very early. It’s very hot and very dry. It’s got everything going for it at the moment.”
One RFS member in Inverell said local crews have been travelling beyond the immediate local area, working collaboratively with surrounding local government areas to bring fires under control.
With the lack of ground water around the Northern Tablelands and New England, crews have been pressed to control fires with conservative water use.
RFS superintendent Chris Wallbridge said it could shape up to be a busy season.
“The lack of ground water makes it a lot more challenging and we have to really concentrate on our water usage,” he said recently.
The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a warmer and driver than normal summer period between November and December with up to an 80 per cent likelihood that summer temperatures will exceed recorded median temperatures in the New England area in previous years.
The RFS fire rating for the New England continues to rank at ‘very high’ with fire fighting services encouraging residents to clean areas around their home and to have a working fire plan in the lead up to what could be a busy fire season.