About 30 NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) members will take part in the hazard reduction operation at Bourke Hill in Dubbo on Saturday, September 11, joined by crews from Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW).

The NSW RFS will also conduct a hazard reduction burn along the Golden Highway in the Mugga Downs area, to the east of Dubbo in the next month.

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The two hazard reduction burns will start at 8.30am and finish by 5pm on each day.

NSW RFS Inspector Bron Waters said hazard reduction was vital in reducing fuel loads ahead of the bush fire danger period.

"Hazard reduction plays a vital role in helping to reduce the intensity of bush fires," she said.

"These controlled burns will help protect properties and assets around Bourke Hill and Mugga Downs, and also assist our firefighters to control future grass fires in these areas."

Inspector Waters said each year there was only a small window of opportunity where weather conditions were conducive to controlled burns.

"For a hazard reduction burn to be successful, we require the right wind and temperature conditions as well as ground fuels to be sufficiently dry," she said.

"If we are unable to get the right conditions on September 11, an alternate date has been set for September 25."

The area surrounding the burn will be a working environment with firefighters and fire tankers moving around the vicinity.

The RFS ask the community to assist them by limiting the traffic around the area at this time, not only for your own safety but the safety of our crews.

"We advise residents in the vicinity of these burns to take appropriate precautions, such as keeping doors and windows closed, removing washing from clothes lines and making sure pets are in a protected area," Inspector Waters said.

"Motorists in these areas should also slow down and take care if driving through smoke, keep the windows up, switch the car air-conditioner to recirculated mode and turn headlights on."

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