Residents are warning NSW government logging operations on the South Coast have left behind large piles of combustible debris threatening to ignite "like a giant bonfire" and devastate coastal towns near Batemans Bay.

The Herald has seen photographs of tree branches, logs, bark and wilted leaves piled metres high in the Benandarah State Forest, immediately north west of Batemans Bay.

Furious residents want an explanation as to why the debris - also known as "slash" - was left behind after recent logging by the state-owned Forestry Corporation of NSW, which produces 14 per cent of the state’s timber.

Debris the Forestry Corporation of NSW has left behind from its logging operations near Batemans Bay. Residents fear the area will explode like a tinderbox and put coastal towns under threat. Credit:John Perkins

The revelations come amid a charged national debate over whether mismanagement of fuel loads has contributed to this summer’s disastrous bushfire season.