Extreme fire danger for Sydney ahead of dry, hot summer | ABC NEWS — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Now, the fire danger rating for Sydney
2. 0:02today, it's extreme and the threat in
3. 0:04the Hunter is rated as high. Tell us
4. 0:07about what we're dealing with today.
5. 0:10>> Yeah, that's right, Gemma. We're
6. 0:11expecting to see extreme fire conditions
7. 0:13today across Sydney and uh parts of the
8. 0:15Hunter there with a high uh fire danger
9. 0:17there as well. Temperatures well into
10. 0:19the 30s, low humidity, gusty winds today
11. 0:23could create very, very challenging
12. 0:24conditions for communities if fires do
13. 0:26start in and around the Sydney and
14. 0:27Hunter areas. And I understand there's
15. 0:29also uh the threat at least of dry
16. 0:32lightning,
17. 0:36>> some lightning and thunderstorms across
18. 0:37many parts of the state today. We don't
19. 0:39think there's going to be a lot of rain
20. 0:40with those thunderstorms. And so that
21. 0:42dry lightning will be certainly a
22. 0:43challenge for us if it starts any fires,
23. 0:45particularly through the western parts
24. 0:47of the state. And the thunderstorms
25. 0:48might extend across to the eastern parts
26. 0:49of the state as well.
27. 0:51>> And when we look at the bush, the
28. 0:52vegetation across the state, I mean, how
29. 0:54dry is it at the moment?
30. 0:56Yeah, it's very very dry. Western parts
31. 0:58of New South Wales have got some
32. 1:00greenery still, but in our forested
33. 1:02areas, we're seeing some, you know, dry
34. 1:03soils, dry fuels. We've got some serious
35. 1:06concerns up in the northern parts of the
36. 1:07state where we've already had u many,
37. 1:09many fires that have been running for
38. 1:11many, many weeks now and communities
39. 1:12have been impacted by those fires. So,
40. 1:14we're certainly on high watch today to
41. 1:16make sure if fires do start, we can get
42. 1:17on to them very, very quickly. And
43. 1:19>> of course, those total fire bands being
44. 1:21imposed uh in the Sydney and Hunter
45. 1:22regions. Can you just spell out for us
46. 1:24what that means?
47. 1:27>> Yeah, really what it means is no fires
48. 1:29in the landscape today. Nobody should be
49. 1:31doing hot works or we shouldn't be
50. 1:32having any uh solid fuel barbecues out
51. 1:35in the open. No open flames in and
52. 1:37around fuels because any fire in the
53. 1:39landscape today with those winds and the
54. 1:41high temperatures will get up and
55. 1:43running very very quickly. There's the
56. 1:45very real potential we have fires
57. 1:46impacting on the backs of homes very
58. 1:48very quickly if fires do occur. So
59. 1:50making sure that everyone's really
60. 1:51careful with fire today and keeping fire
61. 1:54out of the landscape is very very
62. 1:55important.
63. 1:56>> And have fire mitigation efforts gone to
64. 1:58plan so far ahead of the the season?
65. 2:02>> Yeah, we've had a pretty good year this
66. 2:03year. We've uh had a 20% increase on
67. 2:05hazard reduction works this year than
68. 2:07we've seen on previous years. We've had
69. 2:09some really challenging years with lots
70. 2:10of rain over the last few years. So I'm
71. 2:12really pleased that we've been able to
72. 2:13do a lot more this year than previous
73. 2:15years. We've been focusing our efforts
74. 2:17in and around homes and around
75. 2:18communities and infrastructure so that
76. 2:20we can reduce that risk in and around
77. 2:22homes as much as we possibly can. So now
78. 2:24it's time for the community to do their
79. 2:25bit as well and make sure they prepare
80. 2:27around their homes. Make sure they've
81. 2:28got a bushfire survival plan done. Sit
82. 2:31down with a family and talk about what
83. 2:32you might do if a fire does occur. And
84. 2:34really importantly, everyone should be
85. 2:35downloading the hazards near me app so
86. 2:37that they've got a warning if a fire
87. 2:39does occur in their local area.
88. 2:40>> Yeah. Timely advice. What is the
89. 2:42assessment of the fire season?
90. 2:45>> We think we're going to continue to see
91. 2:46these dry and hot conditions coming into
92. 2:48the summer period. Uh we're not quite
93. 2:50sure where whether we're going to see
94. 2:51some rain at the start of summer, which
95. 2:53might dampen things a little bit, but at
96. 2:55the moment, very dry uh very hot
97. 2:57conditions and certainly uh dry fuels
98. 3:00out there across New South Wales. We've
99. 3:02seen our forests uh regrow from the
100. 3:04fires that we had in 2019, 2020. uh and
101. 3:07so they will sustain serious fires this
102. 3:09year if they dry out enough and if we do
103. 3:11get fires in those areas. So, uh,
104. 3:13definitely the potential for a serious
105. 3:14fire season this year.