{"id":5089,"date":"2020-02-12T09:09:12","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T09:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=5089"},"modified":"2020-02-12T09:09:12","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T09:09:12","slug":"bushfire-clean-up-underway-as-excavators-mobilise-across-the-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/02\/12\/bushfire-clean-up-underway-as-excavators-mobilise-across-the-state\/","title":{"rendered":"BUSHFIRE CLEAN-UP UNDERWAY AS EXCAVATORS MOBILISE ACROSS THE STATE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The operation to clean-up homes and businesses destroyed and damaged by bushfires across NSW took a major step forward today with debris being cleared from Rainbow Flat properties on the North Coast.<br \/>\nDeputy Premier and Minister responsible for Disaster Recovery John Barilaro and NSW Police Assistant Commissioner and State Recovery Coordinator Mick Willing joined Laing O\u2019Rourke Managing Director Cathal O\u2019Rourke in Rainbow Flat to oversee the start of clean-up operations.<br \/>\nMr Barilaro said excavators will clear approximately 40 destroyed properties at Rainbow Flat in the coming days, as part of the NSW Government\u2019s commitment to cover the cost of the clean-up on a 50:50 basis with the Federal Government, so insured and uninsured owners will have more money in their pockets to rebuild their homes.<br \/>\n\u201cThe sooner we can safely clear the 2,400 plus houses and thousands of other buildings that have been destroyed across the State, the sooner people can rebuild,\u201d Mr Barilaro said.<br \/>\n\u201cInitial building assessments have already been done for over 41,000 properties. Now the clean-up resources are rolling out across the State.<br \/>\n\u201cHaving excavators in place and working so quickly is a testament to Laing O\u2019Rourke\u2019s expertise. I thank them and Public Works Advisory for making this happen, especially given the challenges caused by the weekend downpours.\u201d<br \/>\nAssistant Commissioner Willing said co-ordinating a safe, efficient and timely clean-up effort across the State will be challenging.<br \/>\n\u201cThe clean-up includes managing hazardous materials such as asbestos, dangerous trees that are near homes or commercial buildings, along with damaged driveways that could impact on the safety of the clean-up or impede the rebuilding process. We will also be ensuring the huge volume of waste is disposed of correctly,\u201d Assistant Commissioner Willing said.<br \/>\n\u201cThis is a mammoth task and I ask people to please be patient for a little while longer, we are coming to your town as soon as possible.\u201d<br \/>\nMr O\u2019Rourke said Laing O\u2019Rourke will work with qualified local subcontractors and suppliers where possible to take advantage of local knowledge and expertise.<br \/>\n\u201cLaing O\u2019Rourke has pulled together a team of experts in their field from across the industry, and now we are ready to mobilise and get on with the task of helping people recover as soon as possible,\u201d Mr O\u2019Rourke said.<br \/>\nTo opt-in to the free property clean-up service, bushfire-impacted owners must register online at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.service.nsw.gov.au\/\">www.service.nsw.gov.au<\/a>\u00a0or call\u00a0<strong>13 77 88<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The operation to clean-up homes and businesses destroyed and damaged by bushfires across NSW took a major step forward today with debris being cleared from Rainbow Flat properties on the North Coast. Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for Disaster Recovery John Barilaro and NSW Police Assistant Commissioner and State Recovery Coordinator Mick Willing joined Laing &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/02\/12\/bushfire-clean-up-underway-as-excavators-mobilise-across-the-state\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;BUSHFIRE CLEAN-UP UNDERWAY AS EXCAVATORS MOBILISE ACROSS THE STATE&#8221;<\/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-5089","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\/5089","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=5089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5089\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}