More than 570 hectares of grassland have been burnt after a fire broke out at Wuuluman near Wellington on Wednesday.
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By Thursday afternoon the fire was still classified as out of control. Orana Rural Fire Service manager Lyndon Wieland said the fire was still active on the edges, having broken containment during the night.
“It’s the rough terrain. We’ve got aircraft, but the crew on the ground can’t get in there to put it out. We’ve got to wait for it to come out into open plains,” he said.
The situation was causing a lot of frustration for those involved, Mr Wieland said.
A plane 30 metres long with a 40-metre wingspan, and capable of carrying 15,450 litres of water, was sent in to help fight the fire.
‘Thor’ is the top gun in the NSW Rural Fire Service stable of firefighting aircraft and was deployed Wednesday afternoon.
As well as Thor, the fixed-wing aircraft, two dozers, two graders and excavators were used to help create a bare earth firebreak before the 43-degrees hit on Friday, Mr Wieland said.
There were 60 firefighters who worked throughout Wednesday night to control the flames, the Orana RFS manager said, which was cut down to 30 on Thursday.
But the high temperatures and string wind forecast for Friday were a concern.
“We’re preparing for a north north westerly wind [on Friday] and that will put pressure on the containment lines,” Mr Wieland said.
About 573 hectares of grasslands had already been destroyed by Thursday morning.
Such was the ferocity of the blaze, there was confirmation of damage to a fire truck however Mr Wieland stressed nobody was injured as a result.
Thor was officially unveiled back in October of last year, and is a Hercules C130 tanker on loan from the United States to help with what was predicted to be a difficult bushfire season across the state.
At the time of the launch RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons warned NSW could expect "above normal" conditions this summer.
"With a confirmed El-Nino weather pattern in place, we are prepared for what could be a difficult fire season," he said.
The aircraft is part of a $10 million trial of new fire fighting methods.