It was hard-going for 54 firefighters who battled a bushfire last weekend, having to negotiate rocky drop-offs and crevices over 2ha of steep terrain at Woy Woy.
Fire crews were alerted at about 5pm on Saturday, November 3 that the bush was alight between Woy Woy tip and Shoalhaven Dr.
They immediately began work to extinguish and mitigate the spread of fire by using hand tools and other firefighting equipment and by 8.30pm the fire was contained.
In the early hours of Sunday morning Empire Bay/Bensville Rural Fire Brigade were on the scene again because of the possibility of a flare-up.
When they arrived they were met with irregular smoke paths billowing out of the bushland and went to work to locate the fire, which they found on a steep 400m incline.
The fire crews created a restricted burn site in an attempt to limit the spread to other sources of fuel, such as bark, shrubs, leaves, while using hand tools – rakes, hoes and air blowers – in dry firefighting practices.
By 7.15am the Empire Bay firefighters requested additional resources to help control the fire with many crews responding from surrounding areas, including the specialist remote area team.
After hours of tedious work the fire was suppressed and mopping-up began.
Rural Fire Brigades came from Somersby, Pearl Beach, Kariong, Copacabana, Wamberal, The Bays, Narara, Killcare/Wagstaffe, Patonga, Wadalba, Erina, Central Coast headquarters and the Central Coast Communications Brigade.
The terrain was hard-going with crews having to negotiate rocky drop-offs, steep slopes and crevices and their hard work wasn’t missed by local homeowners, some of whom bought in pizzas and freshly baked biscuits for the crews.
A Rural Fire Service spokesperson said that even with the recent rains, this was a timely reminder that we are in a bushfire danger period and to have your bushfire survival plan ready.
“Fires can become unpredictable quite quickly and move rapidly given the right forecast and fuel,” he said.
The advice is to have your plan ready and check the FiresNearMe app for updates.
For information about preparing a Bushfire Survival Plan, go online to https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/plan-and-prepare/bush-fire-survival-plan
Sue Murray