02/03/2025
🚨 The Fire That Should Never Have Happened 🚨
The Black Summer Fires were a devastating chapter in our history, but what many don’t know is that one of the most destructive blazes in the Blue Mountains & Hawkesbury was started—not by nature, but by an NSW RFS backburn that got out of control. The fire turned into an inferno that destroyed homes, sheds, livelihoods, and irreplaceable bushland.
The RFS tells people to leave in an emergency, but when firefighters on the fire ground requested an emergency warning, the RFS refused—so residents did not know of the threat so didn’t organise to evacuate.For almost five years, our communities have repeatedly asked for Neighbourhood Safer Places (NSPs)—safer emergency evacuation areas to improve the chances of surviving in catastrophic fire conditions.
The Blue Mountains have 30. We in our area of the Hawkesbury have none. Now, the very organisation that failed to warn people in time is denying our community the critical infrastructure needed to survive when they get it wrong. We've been lucky with wet summers, but that luck won’t last forever. With another dangerous fire season looming, we cannot afford to wait. We demand action before another RFS mistake, which could cost residents lives not just their homes and livelihoods.🔥
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We need Neighbourhood Safer Places NOW.
