The bush fire north of Crescent Head near Loftus Rd has burnt through 850 hectares of bushland since Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Around 70 firefighters have attended the blaze, with crews working around the clock to bring the fire under control and protect properties in the vicinity of Loftus Rd and Richardsons Crossing on Saturday and Sunday.
Fire and Rescue Crews along with National Parks and Wildlife Services assisted RFS ground crews to fight the blaze.
Helicopters conducted water bombing over the weekend and were assisted by a 737 large air tanker, which made its maiden water drop on the Lindfield Park fire in Port Macquarie just last week.
The strong winds on Saturday made the situation increasingly difficult for firefighters, with the blaze being updated to an 'Emergency' level for a number of hours on Saturday afternoon before it was downgraded to a 'Watch and Act' level at around 2.30pm on Saturday.
"Crews have worked to create hard containment lines and have conducted back burning over the past 24 hours," public liaison officer from the RFS Myles O'Reilly said.
Today, crews will continue to strengthen containment lines in an effort to control the fire and may conduct back burning if required.
"The plan is to have hard containment lines in place and let the fire burn in that area instead of actively going in and fighting the fire," Mr O'Reilly said.
"This will continue to produce smoke in the area."
RFS crews will continue to door knock residents in the area and update them on the situation of the fire.
The current dry conditions and strong winds in the area continue to create dangerous fire behaviour. Resdients in the Loftus Rd, Crescent Head and Neville Morton Estate areas should remain vigilant and stay up to date on the situation.
"The next 24 hours are crucial for us to really try to extinguish this blaze," Mr O'Reilly said.
"This is the time for residents to ensure they have a bush fire survival plan in place. We came across residents over the weekend who weren't sure what they were going to take, when they should leave or where they were going to go.
"Having a survival plan will better prepare residents when there is an emergency."
There are currently 12 fires in the Macleay Valley, four of which are being closely monitored.
Stay ahead with local news by signing up for the Macleay Argus newsletter here.
Also making the news:
