Yerranderie is the town that time forgot, but not by members of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service when it was surrounded by fire for almost 10 days over summer.

The RFS defended the old silver mining town, nestled in the Burragorang Valley, as it was threatened by the massive Green Wattle Creek fire sweeping through bushland south-west of Sydney over summer.

Local and historian Trish Hill said because of the potential danger, the town of only a few permanent residents was evacuated ahead of time.

Wollondilly Deputy Mayor Matthew Gould and Yerranderie resident Trish Hill visit the town for the first time after it was saved. ( ABC Illawarra Kelly Fuller )

"So I knew that we were all at risk, every aspect of Yerranderie and the broader community was at risk from that fire," she said.

Resident and artist Rick Thompson said getting out was difficult as the Green Wattle Creek fire continued to grow.

"It was a hothouse really, the radiant heat, it was enough — in the smoke — to make you want to run," he said.

"You needed a chainsaw to keep cutting your way out and every bend you went around there was another tree."

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 1 m The devastation at Balmoral from the Green Wattle Creek blaze

Wollondilly Deputy Mayor Matthew Gould said the locals were worried.

"They were very scared and concerned. Most of them have been here for a long while, so as soon as it started they knew it was going to be a problem."

The campaign to save Yerranderie

Cr Gould said once stationed in the town, the RFS put a tanker on every home and used the town's private air strip to hold back the blaze.

"It was mind-blowing, the number of trucks. I think at some point they had 15 trucks here, a dozen aircraft, they really went all in to save Yerranderie," he said.

RFS crews lined the Yerranderie air strip to manage their campaign against the Green Wattle Creek fire. ( Supplied: Cawdor RFS )

"It would have been heart breaking to have lost Yerranderie because you could never get it back."

The massive fire, that tore through almost 280,000 hectares, made three separate runs at the village.

Each time the crews lined up to defend the town.

Yerranderie resident and artist Rick Thompson said "you needed a chainsaw to keep cutting your way out" to escape the fire. ( ABC Illawarra: Kelly Fuller )

The Cawdor RFS was one of the crews on the ground and recorded a 22.5 hour shift protecting property around the village with little food or sleep.

Rick Thompson said he first heard Yerranderie was okay on the radio.

"I was listening to reports on ABC radio, listening to fighters talking about how another flank of the fire had approached. But they saved the village and I realised we hadn't lost anything," he said.

Exhausted RFS crews at the Yerranderie air strip fought the fire off from the village three times. ( Supplied: Cawdor RFS )

Trish Hill said even though the town was saved it took weeks for residents to be able to return because of the damage to the road and fallen trees.

When they did, they also had to cut their way in with chainsaws.

"There were trees coming down after the fires because the trees burnt hollow and once the fire had gone through the started to come down, so we had to be very careful and that is why the region as closed for so long."

A thriving silver mine in its heyday

Once a thriving and prosperous silver mining town, most of the jobs were lost in the 1920s during a national strike.

The first public school in Yerranderie, circa 1903. ( Supplied: Camden Historical Society )

Three decades later, the community was further isolated from Sydney when the catchment was filled to create the Warragamba Dam.

Wealthy benefactor Val Lhuede bought the town from a mining company with the compensation her family received when their land and the access was drowned under Lake Burragorang to form the catchment.

Long-time Yerranderie resident Val Lhuede in front of the village's tailor shop in 2007. ( Supplied: Bruce Elder )

Ms Lhuede and a small group of locals have dedicated their lives to maintaining the heritage and preserving the old buildings.

She even built the air strip so she could make it easier to fly in and out of the town.

The town has since been given to the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Ms Hill said she was now compelled and devoted to maintaining the history of the area.

"I can just envisage what it was like in its heyday in the 1910s to '20s when it had a population of 2,000 people, a hotel, several churches, a hall, sporting fields, tennis court. A really unique place," she said.

Cr Gould said he was overjoyed when he learned the village had been saved.

"This place is completely irreplaceable, to have saved it is a big win, these fires have been utterly devastating so to have a few wins is good."

Major plans for renewal

Floods in February have further damaged roads and made access more difficult, but the rain has turned paddocks green.

Cr Gould and Ms Hill hold great hopes the town will be reinvigorated with a new eco-toursim plan. ( ABC Illawarra: Caitlin Duggan )

With this renewal, Cr Gould is hoping to win support for a new venture.

"We've been pushing for what we call 'The Great Walk'," he said.

"It starts at Warragamba, comes down through the catchment at Thirlmere Lakes, then out to Yerranderie, out Balmoral and the Highlands, and back to the dam."

Wollondilly Shire Council is now negotiating for greater access to the catchment to develop the area's eco-tourism potential.

"It's the Wollondilly's hidden gem," Cr Gould said.