As the almost 20,000 hectare bushfire at Yankees Gap continues to burn out of control, firefighters remain hopeful the fire will be contained by the end of the week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The fire has now been burning since August 15, and has destroyed four homes and 42 outbuildings.
The fire is not growing at the moment, but there is the chance of a high fire danger warning later in the week.
- NSW Rural Fire Service's Marty Webster
The NSW Rural Fire Service said on Monday no further homes are at risk, as remote area firefighters “babysit the fire to creek lines” in remote country on the western side of the fire inside Wadbilliga National Park.
While water and retardant fixed-wing bomber planes have left the region, helipads have been cut into bushland as water-bombing helicopters continue to battle the blaze, which now sees three per cent of the Bega Valley burning.
The RFS’s Marty Webster said RFS and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service firefighters from across the state are “monitoring a series of hot spots, and mopping them up”, with winds predicted to strengthen later in the week.
“We really hope to contain it by Friday,” Mr Webster said on Monday.
“The fire is not growing at the moment, but there is the chance of a high fire danger warning later in the week.
“We have 40 firefighters on the ground at the moment and we’re trying not to overtax the locals.”
Mr Webster said the combination of temperatures pushing 30 degrees, a drop in humidity and strong winds could make the fire difficult to contain.
A similar combination of conditions earlier in the month saw the fire destroy one home, with a number of spot fires crossing control lines as the fire jumped the Snowy Mountains Highway.
With firefighters facing “tough physical days”, the agency also controlled a 15 hectare grassfire at Candelo over the weekend.
Mr Webster said there is “some conjecture” over predictions of possible weekend rain.
Following last week’s public meeting in Bemboka and the RFS’s education-based Get Ready Weekend, Brogo resident Peter Haggar said while naturally occurring fires cannot be prevented, more should be done to prevent what he describes as “human caused” fires.
“We need to discuss having a power grid that can be switched off on high fire danger days, and imagine an opportunity to use technology to track hot spots with a focus on minimising harm,” Mr Haggar said.