Heavy rains that fell across NSW on Thursday saw fire crews called off fire grounds to the south-west of the ACT due to safety reasons, but cooler conditions over the next few days are expected to help the battle against multiple fires in NSW.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
While rain didn't fall heavily across fire grounds, Emergency Services Commissioner Georgeina Whelan said on Friday it did make the already rugged terrain where ACT crews are assisting their NSW counterparts too risky to travel on.
On Friday evening there were no fires within the ACT and the Mary's Hill fire hadn't moved any closer.
Following Friday's break in operations, firefighters were positioned ready to resume their efforts on Saturday, Commissioner Whelan said.
The storm that his Canberra and surrounds on Thursday afternoon led to 158 calls for assistance to the SES.
"The last 24 hours has truly shown the adaptability of the Emergency Services Agency and the hard work for us is now paying off as we seamlessly move between responding to fire to that of flood and storm," Commissioner Whelan said.
Good conditions forecast for the weekend, as well as rain on Sunday or Monday, were contributing to an optimistic outlook for the firefighting efforts on three fires burning in NSW outside the ACT.
"The cooler conditions over the weekend will allow us to undertake a lot of firefighting on all three fire grounds in the coming days," Commissioner Whelan said.
"Monday, maybe even late Sunday night, we are predicted to get more rain and an increase in humidity. It might slow us down slightly but it will certainly value-add to containment on the fire ground."
Commissioner Whelan said the Emergency Services Agency was remaining on high alert monitoring the fires and would not be complacent.
Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman said the ACT remained in a state of alert, but that if conditions improved further it could be lifted "in the not too distant future".
While some of Canberra got more rain that it could handle, fire grounds across NSW remained largely dry, said Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Neale Fraser.
"Some places have had quite a bit and others, not so much," Mr Fraser said. "But for the worst fires down south, there's been no relief."
A NSW Rural Fire Service spokesman said falls since Thursday afternoon had ranged between one millimetre and 20 millimetres across NSW, but low numbers "had been more a dominant feature".
The central part of Gospers Mountain, west of Newcastle, received more than 18 milliliters of rain since Thursday, the spokesman said. The western side of the Green Wattle Creek fire, north of Bowral, saw about five millimetres.
"They've had [no rain] at Tumut ... and up in the Kosciuszko [National Park] they've recorded two milliliters ... [and] that's in the high country, so the lower parts probably wouldn't have seen any," the spokesman said.
"It seems to have captured many of our urban areas more than our bushland areas."
READ MORE:
An update issued by the ACT Emergency Services Agency on Friday morning said the Mary's Hill fire had moved no closer to the territory's border overnight, and remained about 4.6 kilometres away.
The fire was 2100 hectares in size, the update said, and between five and 10 millimetres of rain had hit the fire grounds since Thursday evening.
"This has assisted firefighters to conduct direct firefighting on the ground," the update said.
"ACT's helicopter, Firebird 100, is monitoring and mapping the fire, and undertaking lightning detection that may have occurred.
"In addition, three helicopters are undertaking water-bombing activities on the fire edge."
The Rural Fire Service spokesman said firefighters were expecting decent rainfall to assist conditions at some fire grounds on Monday.
Mr Fraser said the forecast of between 10 and 15 millimetres for much of the South Coast, and up to 25 millimetres for some inland areas on Monday, was good news but any reprieve would be short lived.
"Fingers crossed we do see something on Monday," Mr Fraser said.
The Rural Fire Service spokesman said firefighters had taken advantage of eased weather conditions over the past few days, and would continue work to strengthen containment lines, and consolidate fires.
However, even with Monday's forecast rainfall, the risk posed by the fires wasn't nearly diminished, he said.
"We're coming into what would normally be the fire season for southern NSW and Victoria, so whilst we're [seeing] a few days of these conditions and some rain, we can expect conditions to warm up throughout the end of January, into February and March," the spokesman said.
"[The rainfall] will certainly help with the fires we've got and people can [feel at] ease for a few days, but [they] need to remain vigilant for the future."
