People need to be aware that they may not be covered by insurance if their negligence causes a fire, according to the Orana Rural Fire Service team leader.
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Lyndon Wieland said he is stunned people are still acting carelessly by driving cars through long grass and operating machinery in extreme heat.
“I would advise people to check their insurance policy carefully because sooner or later someone is going to try and recuperate their losses and find out they can’t,” Inspector Wieland said.
“In a lot of insurance policies, people aren’t covered for negligence. Some of the fires we are attending are started by negligent acts.”
He said one fire attended by RFS crews on Rosedale Road last week was started by a vehicle driving in long dry grass, and said it could have been avoided.
“People aren’t thinking about what they are doing and they’re not thinking about the consequences. They have to start taking responsibility for their actions,” he said.
Well before the fire season began in October, Inspector Wieland began warning people to prepare and said with the wet winter and spring, it would create extra growth that would make fuel for summer fires.
He said he spread the message to try and convince people to prepare before it was too late.
The RFS had an increased workload in recent weeks, attending fires caused by vehicles, slashers and arcing electricity, harvesting equipment and lightning strikes.
“We had a fire last week on the Old Dubbo Road that burned through crop and harvested stubble that was started by a bearing in the air conditioning unit of a harvester,” Inspector Wieland said.
“Thanks to the quick response and hared work of our volunteers it was a reasonably small fire, considering how hot the day was and what conditions were like.
“We also had hay bales catch fire at Arthurville in the Wellington area and 15 hay bales were destroyed by that fire.”
Sustained hot weather had dried out grass and turned it into an effective fuel.
A fire at West Wyalong that burned out between 7000 and 8000 hectares and another at Coonamble that wiped out 2000 hectares showed that conditions were right for major bushfires.
“It was only the involvement of large aircraft that allowed us to contain that fire because tankers alone wouldn’t have been able to do it,” he said.
Inspector Wieland urged people to develop plans for their homes and properties, including clearing a paddock to house stock and keep them safe from a bushfire.
