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A proposal to build a “water curtain” across the Blue Mountains to protect Western Sydney from catastrophic bushfires has resurfaced during last week’s NSW Parliament’s Budget Estimates hearings.
The plan, first put forward by the Bells Line of Road Business Council and the Hawkesbury Blue Mountains Community Bushfire Alliance, would establish a network of large, bore-fed water tanks along the Bells Line of Road and Putty Road. The aim is to give firefighting crews ready access to water during high-risk fire conditions.
“In urban areas you have fire hydrants at the ready. That’s what roadside water tanks are for our community — water hydrants ready to go when the fire hits,” BLOR Business Council Director Fiona Germaine explained.
Support from Fire and Rescue NSW
Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell told the hearing the proposal would make a “very significant improvement” to bushfire operations.
He recalled the 2019–20 Black Summer fires, including the failed RFS Mt Wilson backburn that broke containment and swept through Bilpin District threatening to enter Western Sydney.
“Conditions were deteriorating quickly… either ourselves or RFS hadn’t had the chance to bring up those additional resources of large water tankers,” Fewtrell said. “The time lost cycling trucks back further afield to refill was quite significant. It was a drain away from the firefighting operations.”
Fewtrell explained that strategically placed tanks holding “tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of litres” would not only improve efficiency but also protect firefighter safety.
At the height of the 2019 crisis, many local water sources had run dry after years of drought. Crews were forced to rely on dams and tanks that could not be used. In one case, a firefighter single-handedly hauled heavy suction hoses into a dam to draught water — work normally done by four people.
At the time, then RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told Bilpin residents — many of whom had lost homes he believed roadside tanks were already in place to refill Fire Rescue trucks when he dispatched them to fight the escaped Mt Wilson backburn fire.
Fewtrell stressed the strategic importance of the Bells Line of Road corridor, describing it as “the front line for fire entering Western Sydney.”
Mixed Views Among Agencies
While Fewtrell offered strong support, Rural Fire Service Commissioner Trent Curtin told the hearing the Hawkesbury Local Bush Fire Management Committee had not backed the proposal when it was raised.
The committee, chaired by RFS Volunteer Group Captain Craig Burley, includes other emergency service representatives. Burley and fellow Group Captain Ken Pullen were called before the NSW Special Coronial Inquiry into the Black Summer fires to give evidence on their role in the escaped RFS Mt Wilson backburn, a fire that allegedly caused the most damage to private and government property in the history of NSW.
They devised the plan to contain the Gospers Mountain wildfire which saw nine consecutive RFS strategic backburn fires escape containment, of which the Mt Wilson fire was one, creating the largest fire in NSW history. More than 740,000 hectares were burnt, 214 homes & structures destroyed, critical transport and telecommunications infrastructure lost, and an estimated one billion animals and plants killed, with up to 80% of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area decimated by fire.
Despite this outcome, Burley and Pullen told the inquiry there were “no lessons to be learnt” and that they would “do the same again.”
The Hawkesbury Blue Mountains Community Bushfire Alliance condemned the stance, warning it endangered not just the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains, but also Western Sydney, given the direct fire pathways into the metropolitan fringe.
The Special Coronial Inquiry ultimately only examined the Mt Wilson backburn, allegedly the most expensive fire in the history of NSW, to determine if the RFS lit the fire — which the agency initially denied — and whether it was justified in lighting it. The Inquiry found the RFS did light the Mt Wilson fire, and it was justified.
This remains contested by members of Local Fire Sheds and experts alike who claim the Court Independent Expert relied on to make this determination was not independent or expert in this field. Before giving evidence, they had worked as a consultant to the NSW RFS, had no experience in backburning and never visited the fire ground, instead relying on a desktop examination of material.
Mobile Water vs. Fixed Hydrants
Commissioner Curtin pointed to the RFS’s investment in mobile bulk water solutions, including a new 75,000-litre mobile storage tank, 41 bulk water tankers, and 6 Tatra appliances (trucks with eight thousand litre capacity).
This equipment is used to supply water to over 4000 fire trucks across NSW and while measures have been cautiously welcomed, community organisations consider them inadequate.
“It doesn’t address the issue of the time taken to get water to the fire ground for trucks to refill. This is critical as every minute wasted gives the fire time to grow and throw off spot fires everywhere. That’s why we need permanent water in the place of known fire pathways” says a senior RFS volunteer and Community Bushfire Alliance member.
“In urban areas you have fire hydrants at the ready. That’s what roadside water tanks are for our community — water hydrants ready to go when the fire hits. Mobile tankers can help, but they are time-consuming and logistically limited” says BLOR Business Council Director Fiona Germaine.
Curtin said he was “really supportive of community groups coming together and providing proposals” and indicated that discussions with the Bush Fire Management Committee would continue.
Community Push for Action
The Bells Line of Road Business Council and the Hawkesbury Blue Mountains Community Bushfire Alliance continue to press for the project, arguing it would cut response times, improve firefighter safety, and strengthen defences in one of the state’s most bushfire-prone corridors.
Locals say the benefits go well beyond the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains — the “water curtain” could act as a shield for Western Sydney itself against the threat of another Black Summer saying without this basic infrastructure, they will struggle to keep bushfires from having the devastating impact caused by the LA fires.
The Hawkesbury Gazette is following this story. If you have experience of the Black Summer bushfire experience in Hawkesbury and would like to contribute, we would love to hear from you.
