NSW Rural Fire Service opens state-of-the-art facility in Tamworth ahead of bushfire season

The $9.9 million control centre and area command office was opened on Friday, to boost the region's firefighting capability ahead of this year's bushfire season.

NSW Rural Fire Service district manager for Tamworth Inspector Bron Waters, said the new facility was "extremely important" after crews were forced to travel to Quirindi and Armidale to run operations during previous fire seasons.

"It's some distance for our volunteers and some distance from any incidents that might be happening," Inspector Waters said.

READ ALSO:

"It's great that they can actually be dealt with locally now."

The new centre includes nine bays for fire trucks, training and meeting rooms, operations and planning stations, psychologist consultation rooms, indoor and outdoor kitchen facilities, bathroom and changerooms and a 150,000 litre rainwater tank.

"We haven't known ourselves to have so much room," Inspector Waters said.

Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and Minister for Flood Recovery Steph Cooke said Tamworth was "ideally" placed to host such a facility.

"It's important our brigades have the fleet, the equipment and everything they need to respond when an incident does arise," Ms Cooke said.

With the build taking 15 months to complete, Ms Cooke said the state-of-the-art facility would serve the region for "generations to come".

Four new bushfire tankers were also handed over to the Bendemeer, Borah, Kingswood and Watsons Creek brigades.

Long serving ex-RFS volunteer and Tamworth Regional Council mayor Russell Webb, said it was "heartening" to see how things had changed within the service.

"When I started as a volunteer we didn't have much equipment," Cr Webb said.

"The effort and the money that's been put into this facility, and the service as a whole across the state, is going to make this such a better place to live in the future.

On the back of the 2019-20 Bushfire Inquiry, the centre will also include a mitigation unit in response to the recommendations.

Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson said the build was a reflection of the state government's commitment to improving local communities.

"We know that you've got to provide the facilities for people who are volunteers," Mr Anderson said.

"When you talk about our volunteers, they are priceless."

Due to the recent rain events, Inspector Waters said the biggest challenge facing the service this summer was trucks getting bogged.

"It's so boggy that we won't be able to get people onto the fire grounds," she said.

The new facility is located at 177 Country Road in Westdale.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: