Tyagarah bushfire cause under investigation

Firefighting crews are to continue to monitor, and mitigate the effects of, the bushfire at Tyagarah today while an investigation into its cause continues.

A delayed cool weather change finally taking effect this morning has created milder conditions, but possible storm activity forecast this afternoon has crews on the alert for flare-ups.

‘Easterly winds could cause problems for us,’ Rural Fire Service Far North Coast Manager David Cook told The Echo Thursday morning, ‘and if the winds turn southerly there could be more smoke later in the day in Brunswick Heads’.

Fourteen water tankers and two helicopters were to be on scene today, as well as a crew supplies vehicle and a command vehicle to lead the way through the reserve.

Superintendent Cook said there were some areas considered too dangerous to venture int, owing to underground fires causing trees to suddenly fall.

Thermal imaging to identify underground hotspots

Crews on Wednesday dealt with flare-ups in some of the area’s peat, and in some of the melaleuca stands, but were able to keep the fire under control, Superintendent Cook said.

‘We had two helicopters water bombing until their last flight, and they’ll be back today but conditions have eased considerably,’ he said.

Today’s last flight would again coincide with sunset at around 5.30 or 6pm.

Water used for bombing came from lakes within the Tyagarah Reserve, while workers for the Byron Shire Council were also trying to stymie underground fires in the peat with grey water pumped from the nearby Byron water treatment plant.

Superintendent Cook said they were using thermal imaging to help identify hotspots in the peat before trying to flood it.

Firefighters included 19 RFS volunteers from brigades in the Ballina, Byron and Tweed areas and 16 staff from the National Parks and Wildlife Services.

Local wildlife experts and carers were also on standby with plans to enter the fire zone and tend to injured animals when safe, Superintendent Cook said.

Collaborations between firefighters and wildlife rescuers started locally during the 2019-2020 bushfires, he said.

Underground wetland fires not unusual

Local crews were pretty experienced at dealing with wetland fires, the volunteer leader said, including the volatility of underground fires in the peat.

‘All the local coastal areas have peat,’ Superintendent Cook said, explaining that terrain at Lennox Head and along the Tweed coast was susceptible to fires of a similar nature to the one at Tyagarah.

Fires have occurred in Tyagarah in recent years, but the biggest one Superintendent Cook recalled was thirty years ago.

The 1993 fire also started in the nature reserve near Bayshore Drive but ‘crept under Ewingsdale Road and came up on the southern side,’ Superintendent Cook said.

When wind and smoke collide

Changing winds over the past fortnight and fires elsewhere have led to heavier than usual smoke in the region, with Traffic NSW often obliged to warn drivers of poor visibility on roads including the Pacific Motorway.

‘Yesterday’s smoke could be seen from as far as Fernleigh in the Ballina Shire,’ Superintendent Cook said, adding that the RFS had sent out trucks to investigate possible fires after reports from residents, before establishing the smoke was actually from Tyagarah.

‘We also had smoke coming from fires in Queensland mixing in with ours,’ he said, ‘but today the wind is the other way’.

Local RFS vollies ‘holding up very well’

Nearly two weeks after the fire started on 14 October, Superintendent Cook says local RFS volunteers are ‘holding up very well’.

‘We’re resting brigades when we can,’ he said, ‘it’s a passion for them’.

Crews in the early stages of the fire worked through the night, he said, including when the fire briefly encroached on Brunswick Heads.

Retardant was used to create a containment line alongside the Oxbow Trail part of Simpsons Creek.

Superintendent Cook said the volunteers were mainly longtime locals and included a full range of ages, gender, and experience.

Police were working with the RFS to uncover the cause of the continuing fire, he said.

A Tweed/Byron Police duty officer said the cause was yet to be determined but police were focused on management and risk assessment of the fire.

The officer reminded the public to follow police directions if in the vicinity of the fire and to try to stay clear.