NSW RFS says it is ‘significantly behind’ schedule and will ‘continue to do hazard reductions as long as it’s safe’

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner says that as long as it’s safe, firefighters will continue conducting hazard reduction burns over the next few months, which could result in smoke being trapped in the Sydney basin.

Sydney awoke to a blanket of smoke over parts of the city on Monday from hazard reduction burns at the weekend.

“Smoke goes in there overnight and the inversion layer comes in and just traps that in the morning until a bit of a breeze picks up,” the commissioner, Rob Rogers, said on Monday.

“So that’s what happened this morning and that’s what we’ll probably see again tomorrow. For some people, it is just an inconvenience, but to others, it does have health impacts on them.”

The RFS measures its hazard reduction burns by the financial year. Last year, up to 30 June, only 24% of the program was completed, and Rogers said “it was similar the year before” due to the extreme rain.

“We’re significantly behind and hence, we’ll continue to do hazard reductions as long as it’s safe,” he said.

When asked if there were areas of particular concern, Rogers said “it’s everywhere”. “Anywhere where there are properties you’ll find that we [are] trying to get burns done,” he said.

Communities are being urged to prepare for what is likely to be the most significant bushfire season since the 2019-20 black summer fires.

Rogers said a lot of the areas being targeted for hazard reduction burns weren’t affected during the 2019-2o bushfires.

“If you look at even just Sydney, there’s the northern beaches area [where] there’s about a dozen that they want to try and get done,” he said.

“There are burns in the Sutherland area, in the Hornsby area, and then right up and down the coast and in the ranges again, where they didn’t burn in 2019-20.”

Air quality degraded to “very poor” conditions in Sydney’s east on Monday morning, with residents urged to remain indoors and keep their windows and doors closed until conditions improved.

The smoke could linger for days, emergency services warned.

According to the NSW RFS, smoke settled over Sydney on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning.

“While the smoke will begin to clear later this morning further burning is scheduled for today and as a result smoke is expected to remain over parts of Sydney and the Central Coast until midweek,” a spokesperson said.

The RFS issued a smoke warning just after 5.30am, urging asthma sufferers and those with a lung condition to keep their puffers handy and reduce outdoor activities if smoke levels were high.

The smoke was caused by hazard reduction burns in Sutherland, Ku-ring-gai, Hawkesbury, Hornsby and the Central Coast.

They were originally scheduled for Friday but postponed until Sunday due to wet weather.

Heavy smoke settled in areas close to the burns and in the eastern suburbs, the RFS said.

According to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment, air quality in Sydney’s east degraded to “very poor”. Randwick recorded 102.8μg/m³ PM2.5 fine particles between 6 and 7am.

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said the hazard reduction burns were “necessary”.

“My understanding is that it will improve tomorrow,” Minns said.

“Obviously, it’s far better than a bushfire raging down your street. This is necessary work that the RFS and Fire and Rescue NSW are undertaking.”

Sydney faces months of smoke as authorities race to conduct hazard reduction burns | Sydney | The Guardian