WHEN Rural Fire Service (RFS) crews first got to the scene of the bushfire near Tingha, they knew they “were in for the long haul”.
Faced with dense, woody and largely inaccessible bush-land, the Hilton Road fire kept volunteer crews busy right through the Easter long weekend.
Aircraft and bulldozers were called-in to help build containment lines on the western side of the blaze.
Incident controller Scott Keelan said fire authorities were first notified about 3.30pm on Good Friday and crews had been hard at it ever since.
He said the fire had been officially contained on Monday, only before burning through 1200 hectares of bush and breaking through earlier containment lines.
“[Sunday] was a big day,” Mr Keelan said.
“We had 36 firefighters working into the night back-burning.
“We had trucks driving around putting out trees, rolling over logs – all the dirty work.”
Volunteers from Armidale, Guyra, Inverell and Glen Innes were on the ground helping with containment efforts.
Fires and the environment don’t care if you have a permit or not.
- NSW RFS incident controller Scott Keelan
Mr Keelan said crews would continue to patrol and maintain the 17km perimeter of the fire-zone and there was no longer a threat to surrounding properties.
It wasn’t clear how the fire started and Mr Keelan said investigators would probe the area in coming days, once the fire was completely extinguished.
The fire raged-on through the weekend as the statewide bushfire danger period drew to a close on Saturday.
While landholders no longer need permits for fires, Mr Keelan said there was still a need to be diligent, given how dry it has been.
“Don’t be complacent, even though you don’t require permits, be responsible lighting or maintaining fires,” he said.
“Fires and the environment don’t care if you have a permit or not.”
Tamworth Inspector Steve Prior said crews were still waiting for decent rain before carrying out hazard reduction burns, with the region applying to extend its danger period.
He said the majority of recent RFS call-outs had been sparked by “slashing and mowing” incidents, with machinery and rocks coming together to ignite blazes.
“It’s a reminder of how bone-dry it is at the moment,” he said.