On Saturday 4 October 2025 a major Hazard Reduction (HR) was staged on a large parcel of land that housed the Canyonleigh Community Hall and the Canyonleigh RFS Shed – Quigg Reserve.

The HR had been planned by RFS for some twelve months prior, awaiting the right conditions for burning. It was some ten years since a HR was conducted on Quigg Reserve and fuel loads had grown significantly over that period.

The HR was also a great opportunity for newer members from the Canyonleigh Brigade to experience a controlled fire for the first time. In fact, quite a few RFS volunteers that attended the event had yet to experience a large volume of fire, smoke and the `hard slog’ that goes with a planned burn.

Our brigade was joined by teams and trucks from Bundanoon, Exeter, Mt Hunter, Thirlmere, Tahmoor and Alpine. Vehicles included eleven trucks including Cat 1s, Cat 7s, Cat 9s, PCs and the area’s Bulk Water Truck – so we were well resourced.

Whilst the local Mitigation Team had prepared much of the site several months prior, teams had to prep the site’s perimeter including removal of fuel from around trees and laying wet lines in preparation for ignition.  Ignition commenced at approximately 10am with drip torch lines creating a 6 metre edge around the site.

The site was divided into four sectors (north, south, east and west) with crews and crew leaders allocated strategically.

From a local perspective, brigade members Frances, Jenny, Terry, Ben, Rob, Jasper and Brett crewed both trucks during the day. Together with the other eleven crews the burn was completed by 3.00pm.Due to recent rains the very `green’ nature of the vegetation some 60% of the site was burnt –  a bit patchy but still pretty good. And a BIG thank you to RFS Support for providing lunch for the hungry crews.

On Saturday night Deputy Captain Ben and volunteer Chloe patrolled the site extinguishing or securing some `candle trees’. On the Sunday Canyonleigh members Ben, Jenny, Rob and Brett mopped up using almost every tool on the truck including the small portable pump which provided water from a perennial creek in the centre of the site. Using a bit of on-the-spot ingenuity, the team used a flexible knapsack to create a `dam’ in the creek to draught water.

On the final day of the event, a crew consisting of Ben, Rob and Jenny patrolled the site for the final time: finding just one hot spot and reporting the HR complete.

Many thanks to our volunteers, the crews from all the brigades that lent a hand, the team of Group Captains who directed the HR and to the many Canyonleigh residents surrounding the site.