The fire outside of Wellington is now contained but the work continues to put it out before more hot days later this week.
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The NSW Rural Fire Service’s (RFS) all-out efforts brought the fire under control on Sunday night - and stopped it crossing the Cudgegong River.
It was a hard battle to get to this stage, with the fire that started last Wednesday evening burning through more than 2740 hectares.
RFS media liaison officer Matthew Apps said they were trying to make sure the fire was totally out, breaking up burning logs and wetting down areas.
“This will continue for days ahead of the hot weather returning on Wednesday,” he said.
For the first time ever the RFS used aircraft on Sunday night to monitor the Wuuluman fire and assist firefighters in the hope of bringing it under control.
Normally aircraft would be grounded as night set in but on Sunday the RFS announced helicopters would work to assist ground crews.
Orana RFS Superintendent Lyndon Wieland said a helicopter equipped with infrared and night scoping would focus on hotspots in a bid to stop the fire breaking containment lines.
"This is the first time this technology has been used in NSW and it's very exciting to be able to do it," he said.
"Normally the aircraft would knock off at last light but the problem is that in inaccessible country, that has made it impossible to know what the fire is doing and if it is flaring up."
Aircraft including the large air tanker “Thor” and very large air tanker “Southern Belle” were active around the scene along with air crane "Elsie" and a number of fixed-wing planes.
The use of so many different aircraft was another first for the RFS.
Crews worked hard on Saturday night to mop up and black out areas to ensure the fire couldn’t reignite – performing backburning when conditions allowed.
On the ground more 80 firefighters and “many, many” tankers were hard at work, Superintendent Wieland said.
Their efforts had slowed the fire’s progress, he said.
“The fire didn’t make a lot of advance, it was caught by containment lines,” he said
Superintendent Wieland praised the work of volunteers saying their dedication, with the assistance of aircraft, had ensured the fire didn't endanger lives or burn any further territory.
