National Parks and Wildlife Service and Rural Fire Service firefighters saved the Mt Dowe communications facility in the Mt Kaputar National Park from a major bushfire when the centre, a key communications hub, was threatened by the fire on Thursday.
Damage to the Mt Dowe station would have had a serious impact on communications including among the emergency services.
However, action by firefighters on the ground, with support from the air, kept the fire at bay.
Lightning strikes ignited the fire at two places on Thursday, RFS Incident Controller, Superintendent Greg Wardle said.
The fire which began at two spots, near Mt Dowe and Foggy Dell, about five kilometres apart, joined up to become one front on Saturday, driven by strong winds in the dry conditions.
About 7,000 ha has been burnt so far.
The low humidity, hot weather and winds are expected to continue in the days ahead and into the weekend.
“The RFS and NPWS firefighters worked very hard to protect the two communications towers” said RFS Incident Controller at Narrabri, Superintendent Greg Wardle.
If the infrastructure has been damaged there would have been a significant impact on communications.
The firefighters were assisted by the RFS Large Air Tanker, a Boeing 737, which flew in from Coffs Harbour to drop its 15,142 litre load of water and gel mixture on to the blaze on Sunday.
The aircraft can reach any part of NSW in an hour when called on.
Supt. Wardle said firefighters in this area would have access to the aircraft if needed and property was under threat.
The Narrabri Air Base is centre of flying operations for the bushfire fighting activities.
Yesterday eight aircraft were at the base at Narrabri airport, four Air Tractor ‘firebombers’ and four helicopters.
Their operations were hampered by the thick smoke reducing visibility in the target areas.
Crews are rotating from across NSW to work out of the Narrabri Air Base.
Supt. Wardle said firefighters’ strategy was to contain the bushfire, keeping it from reaching grazing land and associated assets like fencing. In the National Park there were also heritage sites to be protected.
Supt. Wardle said firefighters were mindful of the critical shortage of water in the district in the drought and were using strategies with that in mind.
About 40 RFS and NPWS personnel are at the fire front, supported by ground staff at the Narrabri RFS HQ at Narrabri West.
Smoke has filled the air across a wide area and more may be coming if firefighters undertake back burning in the next few days to control the blaze.
The fire could burn for several weeks, unless of course, there is rain.
Hazard reduction burns in the area in recent years have helped in reducing fuel loads in the fire area.
