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Thursday, February 24, 2022
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Historic building goes up in smoke Men’s shed roaring into the new year STORY: PAGE 3
Get your frocks ready for this year’s Tomingley picnic races SPORT
By SHARON BONTHUYS AN historic Narromine building known as the Girl Guides Hall suffered extensive damage when fire ripped through it at dawn on Sunday, February 20. The back half of the wooden building located on the corner of Meringo Street and Treseder Lane was completely destroyed in the blaze, which is believed to have started around 5am. The building was vacant at the time and had not been used for several years. Initial reports to fi re authorities had suggested the location was the Narromine High School, which is directly opposite the Girl Guides Hall. Several emergency services units responded, with two units from Fire and Rescue NSW Narromine and Trangie and two tankers from Rural Fire Service Narromine on the scene as well as a Hazmat van from Dubbo. Essential Energy and NSW Ambulance also attended the scene. Additional Fire and Rescue resources from Dubbo were called off. Strong winds pushed embers from the fire onto neighbouring houses and a small grass fire
The Girl Guide Hall ablaze in the early hours of Sunday. PHOTO: NSWF&R started in the backyard of an address in Nymagee Street. Seven people were evacuated from the neighbouring properties as a precaution and water was sprayed onto the houses to extinguish any embers. No further fires resulted and no injuries were reported. The fire was extinguished by 7am.
The cause of the fire remains unknown and police are investigating. The World War II-era wooden building had been moved into Narromine after the war ended, sources told the Narromine Star. Although known as the Girl Guides Hall, it had not been used for Girl Guide activity for a very long time.
A spokesperson for Girl Guides NSW, ACT & NT said the guiding movement has not been active in Narromine for many years and that the property was relinquished to the NSW Government in about 2005. A spokesperson from the Department of Planning and Environment, the department responsible for the building, told the Narromine Star that the building was last used in 2016 by a religious organisation and had been disused for some time. “[While] the front part of the hall is still standing, it suffered extensive smoke and water damage and the ceiling has collapsed. The department has been advised that the building should be demolished for safety reasons,” the spokesperson said. As a safety measure, the Department will install exclusion fencing around the site as a matter of priority. The site will also be inspected for any hazardous material and made safe, the spokesperson said. No timeframe has been provided for the demolition and the future use of the site is yet to be determined. More photos: page 7
Harvest breaks another record in Narromine shire By SHARON BONTHUYS
School zones to be upgraded in Trangie and Narromine STORY: PAGE 2
GRAINCORP has reported another record-breaking year at its Narromine site, eclipsing last year’s record tonnage by an additional 9000 tonnes. A company spokesperson told the Narromine Star that it had been a very big harvest for local growers and the GrainCorp site, despite the long timeframe and challeng-
ing conditions. “Last season (2020-21 season), the Narromine site received 124,000 tonnes of grain. This harvest (2021-22 season) it received over 133,000 tonnes of grain, resulting in a site record,” the spokesperson said. “What’s more, last season's tonnages were received in a time period averaging four weeks. This harvest was drawn out to over 14 weeks.”
The spokesperson said that despite the widespread delays caused by wet weather, the site team worked incredibly hard to deliver for local growers. “The priority now is outloading by road and rail as much of the new season crop as possible, and repositioning grain for maximum utilisation of equipment, bunkers and storages on site.”
Strike gold with a career in mining Alkane Resources ŚĂƐ Ă ůŽŶŐͲƚĞƌŵ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŵĞŶƚ ŝŶ ŵŝŶŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ ŐŽůĚ ƉƌŽĚƵĐƟŽŶ Ăƚ dŽŵŝŶŐůĞLJ 'ŽůĚ KƉĞƌĂƟŽŶƐ, south of Dubbo. If you’re interested in a rewarding career in mining, come work with us. dŽ ĮŶĚ ŽƵƚ ŵŽƌĞ ĂďŽƵƚ ĐƵƌƌĞŶƚ ĞŵƉůŽLJŵĞŶƚ ŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƟĞƐ͕ ŐŽ ƚŽ ǁǁǁ͘ĂůŬĂŶĞ͘ĐŽŵ͘ĂƵͬĐŽŵƉĂŶLJͬĐĂƌĞĞƌƐ ^ƵĐĐĞƐƐĨƵů ĂƉƉůŝĐĂŶƚƐ ǁŝůů ũŽŝŶ Ă ǀŝďƌĂŶƚ ĂŶĚ ĞŶƚŚƵƐŝĂƐƟĐ ƚĞĂŵ ĂŶĚ ĐŽŶƚƌŝďƵƚĞ ƚŽ Ă ĐƵůƚƵƌĞ ŽĨ ŝŶĐůƵƐŝŽŶ͕ ŝŶƚĞŐƌŝƚLJ ĂŶĚ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƚ ʹ for each other, the environment and the local community.
Graincorp’s Narromine site.