Peat fuel main reason for seven month fire in NSW

An RFS volunteer inside the Lindfield Park Road fire ground in January.
CREDIT:  KATE GERAGHTY

A fire that had been burning for nearly seven months in northern NSW has finally been extinguished today, after a unique effort from several organisations.

The Rural Fire Service and Fire & Rescue NSW were joined by the Department of Primary Industries and Environment, Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, and the Department of Health in extinguishing the Lindfield Park Road fire, which had been burning since July 18 last year.

Of the 858 hectares, roughly 400 of them were burning underground at the wetlands south-west of Port Macquarie, fuelled by decomposed organic matter, meaning that conventional firefighting methods could not cut it.

"The peat fuel was the main reason for why it burned so long. It was a huge effort and collaboration with other agencies."

Authorities consulted a team of scientists from "around the world" to determine the best way to extinguish the fire.

"The method they came up with was to basically rehydrate the wetlands."

As a result, 65 megalitres of reclaimed water from a nearby facility were pumped into the area. That, along with 260 millimetres of rainfall over the past few days, saw the fire officially declared out on Wednesday.

https://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/fire-near-port-macquarie-extinguished-after-210-days-20200212-p54078.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1581506670