Warm, dry winter brings bushfire worries - ABC Local

This winter, particularly the past month, has broken records for its unusual warmth and rainfall has been well below average.

In fact Saturday, the last day of winter, was Australia's hottest day on record for the season, with a nationwide average of 29 degrees.

This comes after three years of above-average rainfall, producing heavy fuel loads throughout the grassland areas of NSW, including the Upper Hunter.

The Southern Australia Seasonal Bushfire Outlook, released this week, predicts above-average fire activity this summer in most of eastern NSW.

As you'll see in the attached map, the area of increased risk extends from South West Rocks, near Kempsey, down the coast to Victoria.

Manager of the Rural Fire Service in the Lower Hunter, Supt Jason McKellar, told 1233 ABC Newcastle's Paul Bevan the recent conditions have increased the fire risk.

"It's certainly been a dry and reasonably warm winter," he says.

"We haven't had a whole lot of rain and in the last month or so everyone has noticed we've had the increased temperatures, we've also had the pretty dry north-westerly winds, so it's certainly dried everything out."

Jason says the RFS has already been attending dozens of fires over the past couple of weekends, many caused by rural land-owners trying to do the right thing by burning off.

"Maybe not paying enough attention to the conditions and things are getting away," he says.

"Nothing overly substantial at this stage, but there's certainly potential there and people need to be very careful."

Jason explains that the south-eastern part of the Hunter is expecting an average bushfire season, but points out that our average season is very warm, dry and windy.

"Up until you get that normal rain in the later parts of summer, normal round here has potential for very serious bushfires," he warns.

"The bush is quite dry, the grassland is very dry at the moment."

Jason suggests everyone visit the RFS website and download their Bushfire Survival Plan.

He says even the simplest things such as cleaning out gutters and tidying up your yard can protect your property and family.

And the good news is the Bureau of Meteorology's three-month outlook indicates a wetter than average spring across southern Australia, with temperatures likely to be below average.