TODAY’S first total fire ban of the 2014-15 season in the eastern and southern Riverina regions comes just one day ahead of the start of the annual bushfire danger period.
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Operation services co-ordinator with the NSW Rural Fire Service Southern Border region Insp Marg Wehner said the ban meant no fires were permitted to be lit in the open in the Southern and Eastern Riverina, which includes Albury and Corowa.
Insp Wehner said the ban could effect tonight’s fireworks at the Albury Show.
She said while the forecast temperature today for Albury is 33 degrees, there were severe fire conditions, including high temperatures and high winds, forecast for the western part of the southern Riverina and the northern half of the eastern Riverina.
“As soon as those conditions are identified as severe, it tips us into a total fire ban,” she said.
“A lot of people had been lighting up to burn tomorrow ahead of the start of the bushfire danger period and we’ve had to tell them to do it tonight.”
