The delaying effects of the heavy November rains on the bushfire season have run their course, with Wingecarribee Rural Fire Service (RFS) strongly urging locals to prepare for a long, dry, hot summer and the associated fire risks.
Fire control officer Ashley Frank has pointed with some trepidation to predictions of hot, dry, windy conditions today and tomorrow, not just in the Southern Highlands but across NSW, ahead of Christmas Day.
He has confirmed that the weather pattern is not dissimilar to that experienced in the lead-up to the 2001 fires and the 1998 New Year's Day blaze - which tragically led to the death of one volunteer and left seven more members of the Wingello brigade seriously injured.
"We're probably a little bit greener (than in 2001 or 1998), but in terms of weather conditions, it certainly resembles those years," Mr Frank said.
[Full story: SHN, Friday, December 23, 2005]
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