NSW RFS - Smiths Road Brigade

19/05/2026

16/05/2026

Just a note on an important subject that was raised at the public meeting on Friday. The issue of the impact of smoke from prescribed fire on health was very sensibly raised. NSW RFS requires burn planners to consider the potential impact of smoke on populated areas and other smoke sensitive assets, roads for example. Prior to the commencement of larger and complex burns, it is a requirement that smoke plume modelling be conducted. This is done by professional meteorologists and Fire Behaviour Analysts. These then dictate the environmental conditions to minimise smoke impact on people's lives. It is however not always possible to predict in an exact way. I would just like to remind any smoke sensitive or vulnerable people in our community, to please contact me or the captain if you have any concerns when burns are announced.

Tony Corrigan

08/05/2026

Thank you to Ed, Ian, Miles, Claire, Jacob and Tim for all of your help early this morning. It was really appreciated.

07/05/2026

The ACT Parks and Conservation Service would like to update the community on proposed works on the NSW side of the Clear Range and any matters relating to fire protection. The group will include a representative from ACT Forests who will provide an update on Ingeldene management. The presentation will be held at our community hall at 2pm Friday 15 May.
Any questions, please contact Tony Corrigan or Clive Haggar

18/04/2026

Tony, Stu and Jo of Smiths Road Brigade along with members of Carwoola, Ridgeway, Queanbeyan City, Burra and Jerrabomberra Creek brigades from Lake George, ACTRFS and ACTFR attended the 250 megawatt BESS (battery energy storage system)electrical energy storage facility at Williamsdale on the Monaro Highway today. Crews were given a full inspection of the facility with detailed discussion surrounding the risk to firefighters if an incident occurs on site. The facility is well designed and poses minimal risk to crews if safety procedures are followed if an incident occurs. As the facility is still in the commission stage we were requested not to post photos of the inside of the plant. Thank you to everyone who organised today.

30/03/2026

The current Bush Fire Danger Period is drawing to a close, with the last day being 31 March 2026. This means that as of 01 April 2026, there is no longer a requirement for Fire Permits BUT there is still a requirement for Burn Notifications before you burn on your property.
Once we are out of the Bush Fire Danger Period, planned burns need to be notified to your neighbours and the NSW RFS, at least 24 hours ahead of the planned burn.

Neighbour notifications must be done via a direct means, such as a face-to-face verbal, phone call, SMS, letter, etc. We do ask that a letter in the mail box should come with a reasonable time-frame.

Posting on Social Media is NOT sufficient for a neighbour notification of a planned burn.

RFS notifications can be done by going to https://nswrfsprod.service-now.com/guardian_csp?id=guardian_cat_item&sys_id=9e19819bc361f1d04a9cdc31150131ad or by ringing the Cooma Control Centre on 02 6455 0455 though using the web link is far more preferable.

The RFS notification process will result in a Burn Number being allocated to your planned burn, which can be referenced if an emergency call does end up being made.

You can also let the Brigade know about your planned burn by sending a message to either our Captain Tim Hunter on 0418420500 or our Senior Deputy Stu Morrison on 0416521041 - but this does not meet the requirements for notifying the RFS.

Along with having the notifications in place, please also make sure you are prepared for your burn. This means making sure your burns are not larger than you can handle, and that you have adequate fire fighting equipment and resources on-hand to suit the size of your fire.

If you're unsure or need a hand, please get in contact with the Smiths Road Brigade - WELL BEFORE YOUR BURN - by contacting either of the mentioned numbers above.

10/02/2026

Hire Fire Danger for today.

04/02/2026

A Total Fire Ban (TOBAN) has been declared for the next two days.

⛔️ Thursday, 5 February 2026
⛔️ Friday, 6 February 2026

The forecast Fire Danger Rating is: 🟠 Extreme.

Help us keep Canberra safe by preventing bushfire ignitions.

During a Total Fire Ban it is an offence to:

▪️ Light, maintain or use a fire in the open air.
▪️ Undertake a high-risk activity. These are activities which may cause fire to ignite, which includes hot works such as welding, grinding, soldering and gas cutting.
▪️ Use slashers or harvesting machinery in rural areas.

Firefighters are monitoring conditions and will be on standby to respond to incidents.

The Multicultural Festival has been granted an exemption for charcoal cookers used by stallholders during the total fire ban. The ESA Commissioner is satisfied that Festival organisers have the appropriate risk mitigation measures in place.

More – https://esa.act.gov.au/total-fire-ban-thursday-friday-5-6-february-2026

04/02/2026

HIGH FIRE DANGER RATING- FIRE PERMITS SUSPENDED- SNOWY MONARO LGA- WEDNESDAY 4TH FEBRUARY, 2026......and this HIGH FIRE DANGER RATING TO CONTINUE OVER COMING DAYS.
Today, Wednesday 4th February, 2026 has a HIGH FIRE DANGER RATING.
This HIGH FIRE DANGER RATING will continue over coming days, possibly all the way through till Sunday.
All Fire Permits are suspended during this time.
Please stay vigilant in ensuring that activities that may cause fires to ignite are not undertaken over this period.
We will keep you posted on any changes over this period.

30/01/2026

High Fire Danger for today and tomorrow, with the possibility of dry thunderstorms! Never a great mix!

Myfireplan.com.au