Parkes firefighters responded to two grassfires in the shire on Monday, both caused by angle grinders. The first occurred at a solar farm on the Condobolin Road around 11am, which saw three Rural Fire Service trucks attend and one from Parkes Fire and Rescue NSW. An angle grinder ignited the grass beneath the solar panels, burning 15 hectares. Firefighters had the blaze contained 45 minutes later. "They had the fire contained in 45 minutes which is pretty good," said Lachlan Allan, the NSW RFS Mid Lachlan Valley Team district coordinator. "So far we are not aware of any damage to the solar panels." RFS volunteers were called back to the site later that night when some timber began to smolder. It took them about 15 minutes to extinguish. The second grassfire took hold about 20km out of Parkes on the Parkes-Eugowra Road about 2pm that same day. The fire also started from an angle grinder, igniting timber on the eastern side of the road and burned through 20 hectares. Mr Allan said the recent incidents serve as a good warning to people who use machinery in grass. "Just because it's green, doesn't mean it won't catch on fire," he said. The fuel-load around the district at the moment, Mr Allan said, is scattered depending on where you are. And it can change with the warmer days that have lower humidity and high temperatures. "It's mainly the wind causing issues for us at the moment," Mr Allan said. "It's been very consistent, and it doesn't have to be hot as was the case [on Monday]." The temperature in Parkes was just 19.6 degrees at 11am on Monday and 23.1 at 2pm when the fires started. And the windspeeds were 30km/h and 33km/h gusts at these times respectively, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Winds were much stronger on Tuesday around the district, peaking at 65km/h in Parkes, 61km/h gusts in Forbes and 54km/h in Grenfell. "It doesn't take much for a fire to start," Mr Allan added.
