Iluka Rural Fire Service

19/08/2026

We are very proud of our station and rightly so, as it’s one of the newest in the district.
However, the builders, it appears, forgot to take the protective plastic film off our big sign. Now it’s looking pretty bad.
Anyone know of a product that will easily clean the deteriorating plastic off without affecting the sign paint underneath?
UPDATE: just got off the phone from Cam from Signcraft and Design , Maclean, and he said it’s likely a clear UV laminate deteriorating and the sign and has likely reaching the end of its life.

18/08/2026

Eight brigade members participated in a community bushfire scenario workshop run by Red Cross and organised by Ruth from ICOPE.
Kieran from the NSW Reconstruction Authority, assembled part of the big map.
We have a big community hall but 2 panels had to be left off!
We had a fantastic lunch with everyone before getting busy running through an evolving bushfire scenario that initially started in Ashby.
Spot fires, wind changes and heavy smoke impacting communities were all part of the exercise.
Identifying community preparedness and accurate emergency information sources featured extensively with the exercise too.
Thanks ICOPE and Red Cross for the event🙏

09/08/2026

Five Iluka firefighters and our larger truck (Iluka 1), had an early start this morning heading to the Clarence District’s RFS training facility just north of Grafton.

While our brigade trains locally twice a month, this was a great opportunity to train with 5 other neighbouring brigades which makes up
Group 2.

The Clarence LGA is the biggest LGA on the North Coast and has 6 RFS group areas, each with its own unique topography, climate and vegetation ranging from the coast to well inland.

Iluka is the only coastal village in Group 2 and has some unique challenges such as a rapidly growing urban interface, a growing commercial and industrial area and
of course a growing tourist industry and marine precinct!

Group Captains generally turn up with specialised command vehicles to larger incidents to coordinate and support RFS operations.

The training facility we attended today offered some very realistic scenarios with structural and car fires giving off smoke, flames and small explosions and using multiple brigades to respond to them .

Our District training programme wraps up for the year now as we enter the bush fire danger period.

This spring and summer is shaping up to potentially be a severe fire season so we will continue to train locally to enhance our skills for what may come.

05/08/2026

Please be advised that there may be smoke generated in the Woombah area from a National Parks hazard reduction, planned North of Woombah tomorrow (Thursday) commencing approximately 10 AM.
RFS have been notified.
Due to the narrow window likely available between now and the hotter drier weather, the opportunity is now available.
National Parks apologises for the short notice.

(Photo- 2019 Myall Creek fire taken from the Iluka ferry terminal)

29/07/2026

Iluka 1 and Iluka 7 (our two fire appliances) headed off locally for some “after dark” training last night.
With the end of the winter school holidays our coastal village gets a bit quieter so we used an out of the way carpark where our training under flashing red and blue lights doesn’t bother anybody🚒🚨‼️
It’s important training trying to simulate a “real” incident in dark conditions.
We also took advantage of the dark to conduct acouple of “search and rescues” using our TIC or Thermal Imaging Camera.
The TIC can be set for detecting hidden fire in bush and in structures and also for detecting the temperature of a human body, depending on how it’s configured!
Like all our equipment and procedures, familiarity with it all makes for an efficient and safe response to Brigade call outs!

20/07/2026

Woombah 1 and Iluka 1 responded to a single vehicle accident just South of the Esk Bridge on Iluka Rd. early this morning.
Ambulance paramedics attended to the single occupant driver who was transported to hospital for observation.
Both brigades worked well to control traffic on a dangerous wet bend on this 100 kph section of road.
Maclean Fire and Rescue and police also arrived on scene soon after and we closed the road briefly while the tow truck loaded the vehicle on.
Both Woombah and Iluka truck crews met up afterwards for a well deserved coffee and catch up down at the Bottero coffee cart.
A big shout out to the coffee cart for the free coffee and “pass it forward” for emergency service workers initiative.

18/07/2026

A house fire occurred last night in Lawrence.
Fortunately no loss of life but the house was destroyed.

Our hearts go out to the family that have lost everything.
Whilst the cause is unknown at this stage, it’s a timely reminder during the cold and particularly wet month we’ve had to take extra care.

😺🔥 **Maybe you can't keep the cat a metre from the heater... after all, they own the house anyway.** 🐈

But you **can** keep everything else a metre away!

🧺 Blankets
🛋️ Furniture
👕 Clothes
📰 Newspapers
🎁 That pile of "I'll put it away later"...

This winter, remember **"A Metre From The Heater."**

It only takes a minute to move things back—but it could prevent a house fire.

Stay warm. Stay safe. ❤️

17/07/2026

Iluka firefighter Jason has just returned from his second multi day deployment to a couple of HR’s (Hazard Reductions) based near Tenterfield.
He traveled with 3 appliances from our Clarence District and they teamed up with other appliances from other local Districts to give the local brigades a hand.
One truck got a flat tyre on-route!
It was a 5 day deployment (3 days conducting the HR) and a day either end for travel.
The 3’rd day was cancelled due to high winds, but Jason said it was a great learning experience and he spent the majority of the time using the drip torch!
HR’s are a great way to learn firefighting techniques from these lower intensity controlled burns.
Because of the current prolonged wet conditions locally (along the coast in particular), many planned HR’s in our area have had to be postponed.
Hopefully we can get a dry break soon before summer kicks in, so we can get some local HR’s completed.

11/07/2026

We had a good roll up for training this afternoon, with the weather nice and sunny.
While our coastal town is busy with the school holidays we went to a close but isolated location to spread out with our trucks, hoses and scenarios!
The captain threw in a sneaky “fire overrun” scenario with 3 blasts of the horn, right in the middle of a bush fire response.
This particular “over run” exercise is critical to get right.
It does require urgency and everyone knowing what is required!
Fire overruns, whilst rare can and do occur, particularly in extremely volatile situations.
Some examples are, being cut off from a safe escape route- vehicle breakdown or bogging!
Expect the unexpected!

08/07/2026

Crews in Iluka 7 along with Brooms Head 1 set up at the oval in Yaegl country in support of NAIDOC lower Clarence Community Fun day, today.
A wonderful day of community with music, food, rides and activities for young and old.
The rain stayed well away thankfully as yesterday the day before and the day before that, was wet and cold.
It was a first for Iluka and hopefully a yearly event into the future.