Firefighters are making the most of cooler conditions to put containment strategies into place before the fire danger rises again next week
Community members sort out donated Christmas presents into categories in Balmoral, which was severely impacted by fires."A key focus while we have a slight reprieve this week is to assess, prioritise and implement containment strategies wherever possible," spokeswoman for the NSW Rural Fire Service Angela Burford said.
"There's a heatwave building in the western side of the country at the moment that's likely to move across to see an impact on NSW from Sunday so we're gearing up for this weather pattern yet again."About 2000 firefighters will be working hard on Christmas Day, they'll be away from their families, it's a huge commitment from that many people across NSW."However, Ms Burford warned that communities should not get complacent.
"[The Shoalhaven fire] was flaring up again yesterday under what seemed like more benign conditions, which is indicative of the fact that these fires still have the potential to threaten communities even at this time," Ms Burford said. "It's a timely reminder for communities to continue to monitor conditions as things can change very quickly."
More than 900 homes have been destroyed so far in this bushfire season, including about 100 since last Thursday.
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