Due to the current fire emergency, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service will expand closures of national parks and reserves, including tracks, trails, campgrounds and picnic areas across the Central Coast, Hunter, Mid North Coast, North Coast and North West of the State from Monday 11 November 2019 until further notice.

Closing all national parks and reserves north of Hawkesbury River from 8.00 am tomorrow is an important measure to protect the public’s safety and to ensure no-one finds themselves trapped in a park if fire breaks out in these extreme conditions.

A full list of the park closures and alerts across New South Wales is available at https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/alerts/alerts-list, including widespread closures across Greater Sydney, South Coast and Western NSW and any exclusions such as Sea Acres Rainforest Centre and cafe.

Fire can move extremely fast through the landscape with new ignitions possible so every precaution to protect people is necessary.

‘Total closure’ means no public access at all and includes tracks, trails, campgrounds and picnic areas.

National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) advises that park closures in all areas across New South Wales will be reviewed on a daily basis with additional closures implemented if conditions deteriorate.

Parks will only reopen when considered safe.

NPWS is a key support agency for bushfire response and has more than 1000 trained firefighters which it deploys to wildfires and hazard reduction throughout the year, including supporting the Rural Fire Service (RFS) and NSW Fire and Rescue.