Winds at the time were gusting to 50km/hr from the north west which meant we were in the fire track.
The NSW Rural Fire Service put the fire at Advice Level meaning we should monitor the situation.
Within an hour the wind swung around to the south, accompanied by ten minutes of teasing light rain, pushing the fire away from us.
On 1st December, the first day of our summer, the Advice Level remained.
The fire had burnt out around 13ha overnight.
We heard a helicopter mid morning but assumed, as they were not ‘water bucketing’, they were checking the fire via thermal camera.
At lunchtime the winds were once again gusting from the north west at again around 50km/hr.
However around 6pm the southerly change came in with reasonably heavy showers dropping 11mm over three hours.
We all breathed a bit easier and now wait hopefully, for the RFS all clear.
There are two free camping grounds in the vicinity of the fire ignition point.
Whether someone’s fire got away there or not is just supposition.
But there has been a lot of rain over winter and spring so copious amounts of undergrowth has sprung up in the forests.
With hot, low humidity weather and gusting winds any carelessness with open fires is a recipe for a potential disaster.
As you may have gleaned, we are a bit paranoid about bushfires around here, even the smaller ones.
Back in 2019 a small fire started west of us and burnt unchallenged for a week or so until adverse weather conditions turned it into a raging inferno, known as the Currowan Fire, eventually destroying 500,000 ha (1.25million acres ) of country and taking lives and property over 74 days.
Once bitten. Twice shy.
