By Riley Walter
Sydneysiders are being told to take precautions as smoke from planned hazard reduction burns starts to blanket the city.
Air quality across Sydney, especially in the city’s west, and the Blue Mountains is expected to deteriorate throughout Friday and into the weekend as the burns continue.
More than 6600 hectares were expected to be burnt across greater Sydney.Credit: Wolter Peeters
The NSW Rural Fire Service is conducting planned burns in parts of the Blue Mountains National Park and near Katoomba and Mount Victoria. The burns, across almost 4000 hectares, are all under control.
South of Sydney, a nine-hectare planned burn in the Dharawal National Park is under control. More than 6600 hectares were expected to be burnt across the Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Southern Highlands and Blue Mountains regions.
The burns on Friday morning were affecting air quality in Sydney’s north-west, where the air quality was “very poor”, according to NSW government monitoring, and Sydney’s central west, where the air quality was poor.
The burns triggered warnings from NSW Health, which said smoke could have serious health effects, especially for people with heart and lung conditions.
“Smoke particles in the air can irritate the eyes and airways and, for most people, this causes temporary symptoms like a cough and a sore throat,” NSW Health environmental health director Dr Stephen Conaty said.
“However, smoke particles that get into the lung can worsen pre-existing health conditions like angina, asthma, emphysema and diabetes, potentially causing serious illness.”
Conaty urged people with infants and young children, and people older than 65, who he said may be more sensitive to the effects of smoke, to take precautions.
On Wednesday, RFS commissioner Rob Rogers said every opportunity to conduct planned burns needed to be taken after years of wet weather and fire activity had prevented many hazard reduction attempts.
“As we prepare for the next fire season, it’s vital we catch up on planned burns to ensure communities are better protected heading into the next season,” he said.
Rogers said any smoke people might see or smell was likely to be part of a planned burn, but he urged people to call triple zero if they saw a fire not attended by fire crews.
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