"EXTREMELY dry" conditions across the 12,803 square kilometres protected by the Orana team of the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) led it to debate the possibility of extending the statutory Bush Fire Danger Period (BFDP) in the region that takes in Dubbo, Narromine and Wellington.
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Concern about the potential for community confusion resulted in the fire season in the region ending as per usual on the last day of March.
The Orana team favoured communication with the community over the extension with Inspector Bob Conran confirming a message to landholders of continuing care if not abstinence.
As of Wednesday Orana region landholders no longer need to obtain a fire permit but they must notify their neighbours and the Fire Control Centre in Dubbo 24 hours before striking a match.
When they call the centre in Cooreena Road they can expect staff to be direct and informative.
On Wednesday, Inspector Conran reported of "unseasonably warm" weather and "extremely dry" conditions.
"So really nothing has changed from yesterday to today, yet people now don't need permits," he said.
"What we are going to be doing from here on in until it cools off, rains or gets more into a winter pattern, is advise anyone who rings up of the conditions and to take extreme care."
He said some landholders might be asked to rethink their fire plans.
"If people are ringing up wanting to burn stacked timber, for instance, which a lot of landholders do in the off-season, we'll be suggesting they hold off until the winter months when it's a lot cooler and conditions are more stable," Inspector Conran said.
On Tuesday NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons announced that the bushfire season was coming to an end for all but 13 of the state's 152 local government areas.
The BFDP has been extended by a month in the Tamworth, Bombala, Cooma Monaro, Snowy River, Boorowa, Cootamundra, Harden, Young, Goulburn Mulwaree, Upper Lachlan Shire, Yass Valley, Palerang and Queanbeyan local government areas.
The commissioner confirmed that fire permits were not required outside the BFDP but that property owners conducting private hazard reduction burns were usually required to obtain a free hazard reduction certificate before lighting up.
Inspector Conran said the certificate represented "environmental approval" for "genuine hazard reduction".
"We don't issue an awful lot here," he said.
"Probably 95 per cent of what happens around Dubbo, Narromine and the Wellington areas is agricultural burning, which is quite different."