As final preparations get underway for this bush fire season, the NSW Government is bringing together senior leaders from the emergency services, public land managers, industry, academia and community for the NSW Hazard Reduction Roundtable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bush Fire Co-ordinating Committee representatives and stakeholders from more than 15 organisations including the NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire & Rescue NSW, NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, Forestry Corporation of NSW, Crown Lands, and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water will take part in the roundtable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This roundtable builds on the work of Taskforce Fire Guard, the NSW Government’s multi-agency hazard reduction taskforce led by the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS), which has optimised hazard reduction through stronger coordination between agencies and land managers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emergency services and partner agencies prepare for the fire season year-round through hazard reduction and operational planning, with more than 100 specialists gathering last week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 1 July 2025, agencies have undertaken hazard reduction on more than 124,000 hectares of both public and private land, helping protect more than 174,000 properties. This is more than 20 per cent higher than last year\u2019s annual total. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since Taskforce Fire Guard commenced in April this year agencies have been able to carry out targeted hazard reduction on more than 75,000 hectares between April and July. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today\u2019s roundtable will review Taskforce Fire Guard’s performance, consider the latest hazard reduction activities and seasonal outlook, and identify opportunities to strengthen planning, governance and system performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With El Nino conditions established, there is a high potential for a challenging summer with forecasts indicating an increased likelihood of above-average temperatures and below-average rainfall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Warmer and drier-than-average conditions during autumn have left many parts of NSW unusually dry, with some regions already experiencing drought. If these conditions persist, fire activity could increase through spring and into the 2026\u201327 bush fire season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inclement weather and increasingly unpredictable bush fire seasons are reducing the windows available to undertake hazard reduction, highlighting the need to look at new ways to prepare for the start of the bushfire season. During the past five years, the average area treated annually is around 110,000 hectares. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The official bushfire danger period for most of NSW begins on 1 October, with some northern areas of the state already entering the bush fire danger period. Land agencies have already commenced preparations for hazard burns planned for the busy spring season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe National Parks and Wildlife Service has carried out a significant amount of extensive hazard work over the past year, but we know the coming bush fire season will be challenging with hot and dry conditions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis roundtable brings together experts and agencies where we can discuss our level of preparedness, share lessons and look at how we can better protect communities and the environment ahead of the bush fire season.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe’re bringing the agencies responsible for bush fire management together to ensure NSW makes the most of every opportunity to reduce bush fire risk as we head into a challenging summer.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDuring spring, planned hazard reduction will continue to take place as our agencies and volunteers get ready for summer \u2013 I encourage all landowners to consider what actions they can take to prepare for bush fires.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur Government is ensuring collaboration across agencies and landholdings because it is critical for tackling the risk of bush fires in NSW.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cForestry Corporation has around 500 trained firefighters in its workforce and brings access to specialised forest machinery and heavy plant from forestry operations to complement the Government\u2019s aircraft and other combat techniques.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCollaboration is occurring with agencies partnering on risk planning for hazard reduction burning priorities, contributing to inter-state and overseas deployments, and are delivering at all times a combined fire response.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Commissioner of the RFS Trent Curtin said: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis roundtable brings together stakeholders at the forefront of bush fire management to futureproof NSW\u2019s approach to preparation and mitigation, ensuring we are ready for the challenges ahead.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Following several years of above-average rainfall and significant vegetation growth, we need to continue to take every available opportunity to reduce bush fire risk.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As final preparations get underway for this bush fire season, the NSW Government is bringing together senior leaders from the emergency services, public land managers, industry, academia and community for the NSW Hazard Reduction Roundtable. Bush Fire Co-ordinating Committee representatives and stakeholders from more than 15 organisations including the NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire & … Continue reading “Preparations for bush fire season advance as weather outlook points to increased temperatures”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40419,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40418\/revisions\/40419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}