Hellish heat in Dubbo and district this week is not expected to be accompanied by strong winds but residents are being urged not to be complacent about fire.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
NSW Rural Fire Service Orana team manager, Superintendent Lyndon Wieland, is calling on residents of Dubbo, Wellington and Narromine to be "really careful" not to start a fire.
He was speaking a day before a fire in Macs Reserve off Warren Road at Narromine was inadvertently lit by campers.
"If we get any sort of wind on a hot day it makes things pretty bad for us," the team manager said.
"People need to be careful, really careful, of what they are doing.
"If a fire gets started and runs into timbered country it's going to be really, really hard to control it."
READ ALSO: Click! There's a new red light speed camera between here and the mountains
Superintendent Wieland pointed to the battle to contain fire in the Goonoo Forest last month and said "nothing's changed".
An Orana strike team contained "two ignitions" in the Goonoo Forest on November 12 when high temperatures and winds propelled big fires in other parts of NSW.
Superintendent Wieland said forecast light winds across the week were "better than 40 to 50km/h" winds.
"But we don't want complacency to set in," he said.
READ ALSO: Mercury's rising across the region with heatwave predicted
Superintendent Wieland said heat alone increased the chance of fire.
"The hotter it is, the easier it is for an ignition," he said.
The team manager, who has been deployed seven times to support the current fight against bush fires in NSW, said a permit was required to light a fire in the open "at the moment".
Call the Orana Fire Control Centre on 6881 3900 for advice.
