The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service coordinates bushfire response in our national parks. This includes issuing notifications of incidents and coordinating resources, such as sending firefighters to bushfires in NSW as well as interstate and overseas.
Our staff are highly trained to respond to bushfires. To enable staff to respond effectively to bushfire incidents they attend:
- fire, incident and aviation training courses
- annual training, skills and fitness recertification programs.
During the fire season, several of our staff work in key roles at the NSW Rural Fire Service State Operations Centre to help coordinate bushfire incident response
Fire suppression methods
Fire suppression involves all actions undertaken to contain and control fire, from the time a fire is detected until it is extinguished and declared ‘out’.
Strategies used to suppress bushfires include:
- direct and indirect attack
- backburning
- use of earthmoving equipment
- use of fire suppression chemicals.
More than one strategy may be used to respond to and control a bushfire. The choice of strategy depends on:
- prevailing seasonal conditions and forecast weather
- predicted fire behaviour
- firefighter safety
- assets and values at risk
- cost
- the impact of strategies on biodiversity and cultural heritage.