Wind gusts caused the blaze in inaccessible bushland to flare up again, but properties are not under threat

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Firefighters confident of tackling blaze threatening homes in Blue Mountains Read more

Windy conditions are still causing problems for firefighters monitoring a blaze in the NSW Blue Mountains, but properties are not under threat.

The blaze in the Wentworth Falls area started on Friday and is expected to burn for several more days, the NSW Rural Fire Service says.

“At this stage it’s just a matter of trying to suppress the fire as much as we can until we get some more favourable conditions, hopefully over the next few days, so we can start actually looking at some broad containment strategies,” NSW RFS inspector Ben Shepherd said.

The blaze in inaccessible bushland was initially contained on Saturday afternoon, but wind gusts of up to 50km/h on Sunday morning fanned the flames and caused flare-ups.

Around 150 firefighters have been on the ground on Sunday, aided by waterbombing helicopters, to suppress the blaze in the area of Hordern Road and Tableland Road.

“Crews have taken advantage of a small break in the wind to actually conduct some backburning at the southern end of Tableland Road,” Shepherd said.

Firefighters are on standby near homes in case the fire burns toward properties.

“It still burns uncontained on a couple of edges [but] we still don’t have any property under threat at the moment.”

Firefighters are on standby near homes in case the fire burns toward properties.

A Watch and Act alert has been issued for residents to monitor the conditions and follow any advice from authorities.