Stock losses are on the rise from the destruction of Northern Tablelands bushfires, which now cover more than 100,000 hectares as they keep all our local authorities extremely busy.
General manager of the Northern Tablelands Local Land Services (LLS) Paul Hutchings said his members were out and about since being activated.
"If we are just focusing on the Bees Nest fire, which is the closest one to Armidale then we're looking at now 268 animals killed by the fire. And we had to destroy another seven based on the injuries they'd experienced," he said.
"The total response is all up confirmed livestock losses of 297.
"Most of the livestock have been lost in the Bees Nest fire and there are still a large number of livestock that are still unaccounted for."
Mr Hutchings said it would be some time before final numbers would be available.
"Just access to country that has been burnt, particularly where it is is timbered country it is unsafe," he said.
"And there are still active fires in the area."
Mr Hutchings said the LLS had hit the ground running and so far 1350 bales of hay had gone out across the fire grounds.
"They're 600-700 kilo-odd weight, so that's a lot of feed that had to go out," he said.
"It's coming from across the country, from South Australia, Victoria, various places across NSW.
"To get it here quickly we had to get onto some guaranteed sources of supply. It was a massive logistics issue."
Mr Hutchings said the LLS was dealing with 596 properties across all the fire grounds that were affected.
"And that does not include all the little fires. When I say little fires, I mean, all the ones that are not disaster declares," he said.
"If you've got your property's burnt out it's probably just as bad for you as it is if you've got your 15 acres around you burnt out as well.
"So, there is a couple of hundred more, I understand, on top of that."
Mr Hutchings said the fact that the fire season was only just starting was sobering.
"We've had over 100 staff from all over the State on roster to support us," he said.
Source - https://www.armidaleexpress.com.au
