Bushfire recovery meeting for community members

A bushfire recovery meeting will be held at the Tingha Sports and Recreation Club tomorrow from 7pm, for community members affected by this month’s Tingha Plateau fire.

Armidale Regional Council will host the forum with officials from the Rural Fire Service (RFS) and Local Land Services (LLS), as well as representatives of other supporting agencies.

Following the meeting, being held in liaison with the Tingha Citizens Association, delegates from each of the organisations will be available to speak one-on-one with residents and answer queries.

A Recovery Assistance Point for residents in Tingha, Gilgai and surrounding areas is continuing to operate at the Tingha Sports and Recreation Club on New Farm Road from 10am to 4pm each day.

Disaster Welfare Services, Red Cross, LLS and Department of Family & Community Service representatives are present, along with council representatives to provide advice on recovery matters including waste disposal.

A Tingha Plateau Fire Recovery Committee has been established and is being chaired by Armidale Regional Council, with support from Inverell Shire Council.

The recovery group will include three subcommittees which will meet this week: Health & Wellbeing, Agriculture & Animals, and Infrastructure, Waste & Environment.

Recovery personnel from the Office of Emergency Management will work closely with the councils, the Department of Primary Industries, Local Land Services, rural resilience officers and other essential parties on an appropriate recovery strategy.

The RFS has urged residents to be alert to residues from fire suppressant retardants dropped by aircraft during firefighting operations. An RFS statement advised residents to wash skin which comes in contact with the residue, to avoid drinking water contaminated by the retardants and provides guidance on cleaning up the residue.

Read the alert here.

Published on 21 Feb 2019