Gosh it's Erie here with the bush 20 feet from my back door ....you could hear a pin drop out side ! Really don't like it at all , pete

Been there. Soon after I bought my current house there were those terrible bushfires in Sydney in 1994 and water bombing helicopters were flying overhead to refill at the river. When they flew away there was an eerie silence along with the smoke and ash.

Hello G,
Yes I remember 1994 fires , they were the ones started in Lane cove national park and basically burnt too the NB,
You know how close the bush is to my house , it's 20 or 30 feet away , but they have not been allowed to burn it off during the winter due to the obvious restrictions put on them by you know who. So the last time it was burnt was 1994 and fuel of leaves and branches on the ground piled up feet high.
So I get very concerned in the summer.
Pete

1994 fires , they were the ones started in Lane cove national park and basically burnt too the NB

That fire was started by an 11 year old boy. He lit the fire just off Epping Road and it raced up the valley (pre-M2). He was nabbed by a passing truck driver who saw the smoke and the kid emerging from the bush and put 2 and 2 together. When the kid fronted Hornsby Court it was revealed that he had been absent from school for 3 months or more. I don't recall what the Court did with him but it was probably a slap on the wrist.

I'm not quite sure about the weather forecast though. They said "catastrophic", well yes it was hot and windy out here at Hill Top and surrounded on all sides by the jungle, but around 4 the sky filled with smoke from somewhere, and the temperature dropped right back. Later in the evening the sky cleared again. Then the supposed southerly change with "80 km/h winds" crept in with barely a breath. The only affect was to cool things down even more.

I stayed out of Sydney to escape the unbearable heat and the smoky air.

As for greenies, I really take no notice of them. There's nothing anyone can do to prevent the earth turning into another Venus, it's all far too late for that, and all their finger-pointing and shouting accomplishes nothing.

Hadn't been at school for 3 months and aged 11? Mum and dad must of been kid focused? 🤣 No wonder the boy was a little shit.

They said "catastrophic"

The temp reached 36 at my workshop today and the relative humidity was just 13% ... add that to the lack of rain and you have a tinderbox in bushy areas. The RFS was mostly concerned about the effect of the predicted cold front in terms of the winds that are usually generated. Luckily the southerly buster wasn't as strong as it might have been.

I'll never forget 1994 - unprecedented in this neck of the woods. Five national parks alight and spot fires in suburban backyards. We lost the original Deburghs Bridge too. I remember Elvis and Georgie Peach hoovering water out of a few lakes and even a council pool.

I was on a walk up at Katoomba this arvo and it was cut short by the RFS hosing a spot fire on the Prince Henry Cliff Walk. I'm not sure what could have started it but I am glad they got at it before it did much damage. It was good work by whoever made the 000 call. It's the same story there as everywhere - everything is dry and the wind won't give up.

Whilst I am not much into flaring up a political debate here I'll make an exception for Adam Bandt - that bloke is a prize pillock for what he's been saying for the last few days. It's gutless, tactless and completely devoid of compassion.

At 10.30 today I received this SMS message from the fire monitoring company at the business complex where my workshop is located: "Due to the predicted catastrophic weather conditions forecast for today, NSWRFS has requested you dial 000 for ALL FIRE ALARM EVENTS. This includes automated fire alarms reporting to a monitoring company."

That allows them (and NSWFB) to prioritise calls. Back when we copped that dust storm that loomed in from the outback it set off thousands of fire alarms across Sydney and the monitoring companies made a fortune out of it. I remember walking up Blue Street in North Sydney that morning watching dozens of fire trucks crossing each other's path and turning in every direction imaginable.

Where I am working now I am the chief fire warden, we ring 000 for all events, even when the alarm and the ASE is working correctly. When the 000 call is made in time, it permits the second appliance to turn and head back to its station if I can confirm a false alarm, otherwise the NSWFB is obliged to send two trucks. This also covers us if the ASE doesn't ring the monitoring company.

it permits the second appliance to turn and head back to its station if I can confirm a false alarm

False alarms get billed at $1,600 (excluding GST) these days. I think the grace period is 60 or 90 days between events. We've had a few, including one caused by the fire service technician using the wrong isolation key during a monthly test. Guess who that invoice was forwarded to.

If you are using the right company, the fire company pays when they mess up. BTW, that price is before tax now and if you want a rebate for a system fault you have to make a claim. The monitoring companies don't automatically send anything back. It was much cheaper then the fire brigade did the monitoring themselves.

I didn’t exist in 1994 but I’ll tell you what was a eye opener! Seeing Marysville burn to the ground in 2009. I’ll never forget that

If you are using the right company, the fire company pays when they mess up.

This guy scarpered from the scene. I had to view the CCTV footage to work out what had happened. Then got the ASE log from the monitoring company to back our claim.

BTW, that price is before tax now

Yes, I meant to type excluding. Fixed.