– Neville Mattick, Community Engagement Manager, Central-West Orana REZ, RE-Alliance.

With a fire raging near Tambaroora NSW, the management team of the local Crudine Ridge Wind Farm made a surprise visit to the Hargraves Rural Fire Service (RFS) Station. 

The RFS volunteers gratefully welcomed the delivery of a ute-load full of catering and drinks, to support them as they fight the large fire between Hargraves and the wind farm to the east.

This is a great example of how renewable energy projects can provide value to the communities who host them, in more ways than just providing clean and reliable energy.

Neville Mattick (L) with the team from Crudine Ridge Wind Farm

As a RFS representative, I am impressed by the support from the Crudine Wind Farm team, and in a discussion with their Operations Manager Ben Deer, thanked him for the much appreciated donation.

Ben said that the volunteers were providing an invaluable benefit to the farm by providing asset protection for Crudine Ridge, and he was very grateful for their assistance to control the Tambaroora fire. 

The fire was triggered by lightning on Sunday 5 March, and is still to be fully contained. It has so far destroyed two houses and damaged more, with many livestock losses and thousands of kilometres of fencing damaged. 

Volunteers continue to work to contain the outermost boundary of the fire, which has consumed nearly fifteen thousand hectares of land across small settlements, lifestyle blocks and farms in the state’s Central West.