It’s the end of August and already there have been 5 out of control fires in our watch area. It’s a stark reminder that this is how the previous devastating fire season started here in NSW.

The Gospers Mountain fire destroyed more than 444,000 hectares from the western border of the Blue Mountains to the Central Coast hinterland, north to the Hunter Valley and south to the Hawkesbury and past the Bells Line of Road. This fire burned through ancient Gondwanaland forest that had not seen fire activity for thousands of years. It took over 3 months to contain the blaze.