The Camp Ourimbah group is urging residents to report Ourimbah State Forest to the Rural Fire Service as a potential fire hazard, with hot dry conditions forecast throughout Summer.
“In the immediate vicinity of your property is a giant fire hazard 122ha in size,” the group said in a recent letter distributed to nearby householders.
The letter says 122ha of drying logging debris, gum leaves, logs and bark piles have been left behind after Forestry Corporation’s recent logging activities.
“The debris needs to be moved immediately – otherwise we have a 122ha tinderbox on our back doorstep right before an El Nino hot and dry fire season,” it says.
“Ourimbah State Forest is a popular car dumping/burning site; this adds to the high risk of fires we are already facing,” a spokesperson for the group said.
“Two cars have already been burnt on Red Hill Rd in recent months.
“Regardless of locked gates it could take only one torching of a car nearby to trigger a catastrophic fire in the forest.
“Local residents have attempted to contact Forestry Corporation regarding these issues to no avail.”
University of Queensland Professor and Wildlife Conservation Society Director James Watson said logging regimes had made many forests more fire prone for a host of reasons.
“Logging causes a rise in fuel loads, increases potential drying of wet forests and causes a decrease in forest height,” he said.
“We must act before it is too late.”
To report Ourimbah State Forest as a fire hazard, go to https://nswrfs.jotform.com/211003352947953
Source: Camp Ourimbah