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Total Fire Ban Confirmed
Heads up... this just came in from a local ranger:
Please note that there is a Total Fire Ban predicted for this weekend (21 – 22 Nov) this will lead to closure of all fire trails and tracks within the Sydney basin parks.
Here’s the Rural Fire Service website link to check Friday night if the ban will in fact be placed http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_content.cfm?cat_id...
Keep safe.
Update: Confirmed for Friday 20th. See image.
There are some rides planned on the Oaks this weekend, but looking at the above and given the forecast temperature and winds it might be wise to postpone. Or at least double check conditions before setting off.
I don't know if this is a one off thing for this weekend, or a policy set in stone. It would seem wise to stay out of larger and more remote parks when the fire danger is extreme, but out of every park in the Sydney basin seems a bit excessive. Will update with more news as it comes in.
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thanks for the heads up ... regarding The Oaks i will check again Friday ... fingers crossed there is some rain (as predicted) Friday and Saturday afternoon ... http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDN10064.shtml
huge plumes of smoke from the HR burn-offs
only takes a broken bottle (love the magnifying glass) or a silly smoker and it's big flash you're ash
a heads up if you like from my mate who works for the rural fire dept. he said they are all working late tonight due to ordinary conditions but I will ask him about the weekend.. he is most handy as he is rather high up so is 'in the know'...
thanks everyone [*smiles*] ... really nice community ... 'tis like being young and in the 70s all over again
there is no way i would have known any of this if it weren't for this site ... i didn't even know fire trails were closed if there was a total fire ban ... cheers ...
Well, according to the RFS site there is a total fire ban in place in Sydney metro today. The fire danger is actually severe and not extreme or catastrophic though:
[1] http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_TOBAN_HTML.cfm
Will this affect the Fat Tyre?
TOTAL FIREBAN AND TRAIL CLOSURE IN KG / Garigal NP SINCE FRIDAY 20/11 @ 8 AM
see: http://nobmob.com/node/11452
P.S. Phil - don't know about Fat Tyre - I think it's state forest...best to check with the organisers http://www.wannaride.com.au/
Yeah it is State Forest, I've dropped an email to Chris at Wannaride to be sure. Will post back if I hear anything.
also stongly suggested the national parks will be closed tomorrow and he will let me know about sunday, but who wants to ride in this heat anyway?
Hi - I was planning a Wisemans GNR ride early early on Sunday. I'm not clear as to whether this would included in the parks ban?
Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks
As at now (1:17pm), forecast for Sydney tomorrow is much lower: 27C
http://www.sydneyweather.com/#
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDN10064.shtml
I had a look at the State Forests organised event permit standard conditions and they say that State Forests can cancel the event if "conditions of very high fire danger" "prevail in the vicinity of the [event]".
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/forests/permits
Gives them the option to cancel but doesn't mean they necessarily would. Surely unlikely unless there was real danger in that area (?) but don't know what their policy on this stuff is.
As at now (1:53pm) there is a bit of rain developing in parts of NSW ... fingers [legs and toes] crossed ...
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR713.loop.shtml...
Heaps of lighning too - hope the lightning hasn't started any fires
Stopped raining now but still lots of thunder and lighning. At least the lawn got some water!
Oaks Trail is closed Saturday 21/11/2009. It is not discretionary. Fines apply. The storms were given consideration but there was not enough rain to make a difference. There will not be another review of the "closed" status by NPWS until after 9:00am Saturday 21/11/2009. Source: Chris of NPWS Blue Mountains National Park 047878877 at 16:00hrs on Friday 20/11/2009.
would be in the Hawkesbury/Upper Hunter area, Dharug NP
it'd be a no go
Just heard back from Chris, he says:
That's all folks. See you on Sunday for the 39deg race!
Ahhh:
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/...
On this page it says next to several parks (LCNP, Garigal, Ku-ring-gai) stuff like:
"All Walking Tracks and Fire Trails will be CLOSED whilst there is a Total Fire Ban in place 20-21/11/2009"
"Fire trails and walking tracks will be CLOSED to public access while the current Total Fire Ban is in place 20-21/11/2009."
are still in place today
and for tomorrow, as at 9pm
My thoughts to those riding the fat tyre today. Rather you than me
Ah... come on... heat is fun. Exhibit 'R':
Wish I'd not been so lazy and joined Whisperer for his ride
Temperature is still quite bearable at the mo... says he who just stepped out of the pool 
It was a balmy 22 deg for the Stromlo club race this morning ..........
You Fat Tyre racers are MAD , its insane to ride, let alone race in this heat ...... Hope you make it home ok
Looks like it as there was a new sign on the gate near the Belrose Substation near Wyatt Avenue ;-(
Or is this from last weekend??
high in areas
points west of are very high
so expect very high conditions to be coming over tomorrow
keep up to date, thinks this should be in the weather section and accuweather and bom and uncle tom cobbly and all
http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_content.cfm?cat_id...
AccuWeather - Sydney
We were at Terrey Hills on Wednesday and there was a sign up at one entrance. On that day it was clearly left over prior events.
This is a huge no, no!
If the authorities want the public to respect signs then they must make sure there can be no doubt as to when a sign is there correctly or they've left it there by mistake. Bit like the rain closure stuff at Manly Dam where someone couldn't find the key, or another member of staff didn't know how to update their website.
3 signs on the M7 said yes
rfs web site says yes
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/fire/totalfire...
says yes
Dharug (Wisemans Ferry) closed
Garigal (Terrey Hills and near Manly Dam) closed
Glenrock has storm damage
Berowra Valley closed!!
check the list, do it twice
think it through
don't be told after the event why you're dead, it's your fault!!
more details for each area, much more than last time!!!!
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/...
Actually, the NPWS page shows a ban there but no trail closures.
Fire ban: A total fire ban applies in the park.
qed, why would you!
And here's the problem.... The RFS site says there's a total fire ban. The NPWS site says there is a total fire ban too. This is fair enough. But in the NPWS page for some of the parks where there is a total fire ban it states that all trails are closed, but for others (such as Dharug National Park) there is nothing more than the fire ban notice.
This would imply you can enter Dharug National Park, walk and ride there so long as you don't start a fire (when you camp or have a BBQ, etc).
So they don't mind people in the complete wilderness of Dharug National Park, where there is no quick route to safety and large swathes of no mobile phone coverage, but you can't go ride along Perimeter Trail in Terrey Hills for example where you are never more than a few 100 metres from Booralie Road (which of course you could go and scum up and down if you felt like it).
I know safety has to come first but if NPWS are going to close all their parks to everyone any day it's over 30C this summer a lot of people (not just riders) are going to be very upset.
we went riding at the Royal Nat Park this morning, there were no signs up when we set out but on the way back the signs were up. They were not very big, probably 1/2 an A4 size and only printed on one side, so if you were coming from one direction you would not have read it or noticed it due to the small size of it. On closer inspection of the sign, there was no officialness (sorry Delicious I know this is probably not a real word but i am using it) about the sign ie no stamping or logo to indicate that it was placed there by an official agency/source. I will bring this up with the local rangers when i finally get along to one of the trail care days.
Regarding The Oaks, even after seeing the NB green light and the npws website I still had to ring the NWPS to be sure ... and ... IT IS OPEN !!! For updates, please contact the NPWS Heritage Centre at Blackheath, phone 4787 8877 - 9am to 4:30pm daily. As best as I can understand from the web site and my conversation, everything south of the Bells Line of Road is open.
of this thread, what was it last weekend with the park closures.
was it automatic because of the total fire ban
or was it because it was higher than severe in the catastrophic range ?
So let us get this straight...
Today, Nov 28, RFS site (http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_content.cfm?cat_id...) shows a total fire ban and extreme conditions for "All Sydney Metro Councils, Blue Mountains, Gosford, Hawkesbury, Wyong".
I have been told by North Sydney Regional NPWS management that when RFS say an area has a total fire ban it will be closed to all users (walkers, cyclists, horse riders - everyone). And indeed, the NPWS site (http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/...) shows total park closure for those that I checked.
Yet the same site says that the only closures in Blue Mountains National Park are "North of the Bells Line of Rd" (plus Andersons from the fire a few weeks back) which was confirmed when you called NPWS as they told you the Oaks firetrail is open.
Clear and consistent policy and information is key in these situations. It seems that isn't happening. Why are remote trails in Blue Mountains National Park open when those in Northern Sydney, which as already mentioned have far easier escape routes and better communications coverage are not!?
FWIW I have written to the webmasters for both RFS and NPWS websites and requested that they create an XML, RSS or other feed of update information that can be used to properly ascertain when a particular park is closed or has other issues so we can automatically track these events.