With dry weather becoming more frequent, Shoalhaven Council has received a Rural Fire Service grant to help safeguard property and critical assets which are threatened by vegetation that cause bushfires.

There are more than 200 Asset Protection Zones (APZs) within the Council’s catchment and the grant of $164,000 will provide the resources for the management of bushfire hazards, with Mayor Patricia White expressing her gratitude to the RFS.

“I’m grateful to the RFS for their generous contribution which will help boost our annual program and go a long way towards protecting the Shoalhaven from bushfires,” Cr White said.

“We took a lot of lessons away from the Currowan Fires and we know that disaster preparedness and our continued collaboration with the RFS is key to keeping our region safe.

RFS District Manager, Superintendent Matthew Reeves said that no one can be complacent with the upcoming bushfire season and is calling on everyone to do their bit to reduce bushfire fuels.

“The bushfire grants program assists public land managers, like Shoalhaven City Council to maintain compliance of APZs through the reduction of bushfire fuels, making homes and buildings more defendable,” he said.

“After years of consistent rain, vegetation is accumulating, so no one can be complacent. Council, businesses, residents, and visitors all play a role in preparing property and planning for an emergency.

“This is a timely reminder that we’re now officially in the bushfire danger period and permits and notifications are required to carry out private burns.”

Approximately 90% of the Shoalhaven Local Government Area is identified as bushfire prone land and has an average of 20 bushfires a year which are considered major fires.

Just recently the Illawarra has been dealing with the triple zero outages and with many reliant on mobile services, the Federal Member for Gilmore Fiona Phillips has a message for her electorate.

“Out Triple Zero (000) service is critical in times of emergency, that’s why the Albanese Labor government has introduced a bill to parliament this week which will bolster the powers of the Triple Zero Custodian,” Phillips said.

“After experiencing a string of devastating fires, floods and storms in recent years, I know how important it is for local people to be able to call Triple Zero (000) in their time of need and for our telecommunications system to work as it should.”

During the ‘Black Summer fires’ in Currowan from November 2019 until February 2020, the fire burned across approximately 500,000 hectares of bushland and claimed the lives of three men: Laurie Andrew aged 70, John Butler aged 75 and Michael Campbell aged 69 who were all defending their property.

For more information on Shoalhaven Council’s APZ locations go to: https://www.shoalhaven.nsw.gov.au/Environment-and-emergency/Disaster-preparedness/Bushfires/Find-a-bushfire-mitigation-area

To create your RFS bushfire plan go to: https://www.myfireplan.com.au/your-leave-early-plan