In relation to the following, Section 44 fire at Warrimoo in the Blue Mountains on the 14th November 2014:
Information from the “Fires Near Me” RFS website.
Greens Rd, Warrimoo
ALERT LEVEL: Advice
LOCATION: Greens Rd, Warrimoo, NSW 2774
COUNCIL AREA: Blue Mountains
STATUS: being controlled
TYPE: Bush Fire
FIRE: Yes
SIZE: 117 ha
MAJOR FIRE UPDATE: AS AT 15 Nov 2014 18:10 Firefighters are controlling the fire at Warrimoo. The fire has burnt 120 hectares.
RESPONSIBLE AGENCY: Rural Fire Service
UPDATED: 16 Nov 2014 04:37
A VFFA member from a Hawkesbury RFS Brigade posed the following questions:
Why wasn’t the Hawkesbury RFS brigades invited to send assistance to that fire?
The Hawkesbury is a neighbouring Rural Fire District with the nearest brigade less than 30 minutes away.
The Hawkesbury was not asked despite a strike team being on standby.
Perhaps Hawkesbury didn’t offer?
There were no fires in the Hawkesbury at the time of this fire.
Yet strike teams from the Sydney area as far away as Warringah and Campbellltown and teams from the southern highlands responded, how can those distant response be justified?
Shouldn’t the nearest available brigades be responded?
Is this the most efficient use of fire fighting resources? (Sending teams from far away when a neighbouring district is available and is standing by)
The deployment of out of area support comes from region. They request from districts after a call in made from area where fire has reached such proportion that the local district cannot handle.
Rember the Blue mountains is FRNSW District until a S44 is Declared.
Not sure why Hawkesbury was not invited but talk with your FCO and seek her opinion as she may have required your brigades to stay in district.
It is a fair question to ask , and I don’t have the answer , I’m sure a strike team from hawksbury would of been a better use of resources , yet the southerly change was predicted to come through earlier than the actual time it did arrive , and if a fire crossed the highway and spread quickly in a northern direction hawksbury could of had a problem in their own district , besides hawksbury does not like to sit and wait for a fire , and fires in the mountains you wait for hours followed by15 minutes of intense action .