Bushfires buffer for Byron Bay

Burn-off held to protect town.

A MAJOR controlled burn-off conducted just north of Byron Bay yesterday and on Wednesday should protect the tourist township from northerly wind-fuelled bushfires this summer.

North Coast Rural Fire Service duty officer, Inspector Lawrence McCoy, declared the first burn in the Tyagarah Nature Reserve since the 1980s an overall success.

“We were hoping for a bit more intensity as some areas burnt better than others,” he said.

“National Parks and Wildlife were out again yesterday burning the sections that didn’t take. They’ve finished operations, but will continue patrols for the next couple of days.

“The burn should prevent fires threatening Byron Bay from the Tyagarah Nature Reserve under northerly winds.

“The local Bush Fire Management Committee assessed there was enough risk this year for the burn – which also provided ecological benefits.”

Meanwhile, the new five-year Bush Fire Risk Management Plan for the Northern Rivers region is now on display at local councils.

Northern Rivers RFS community safety officer Superintendent Boyd Townsend said a text version of the plan was available to download, but he recommended people view the displayed version.

“Previously our plans have been text-based, but this is a much more visual and interactive version,” he said.

“The five-year plan looks at the greatest and highest risks and sets out a more focused plan that communities and fire services can undertake.”

A key focus of the plan in the Ballina, Richmond Valley, Lismore and Kyogle areas is rural land-sharing communities and rural residential type settlements with small holdings in volatile areas, like Bungawalbin and New Italy.

“Once the plan is in place we’ll be getting in touch with these communities to start looking at specific risks and developing appropriate incident response plans,” he said.

“We’ll also focus on the bushland interface of some towns and villages like Goonellabah, Bonalbo, Evans Head and Kyogle.

“It is a big target, but realistic over the next five years.”