The threat posed to the communities along the western edge of the enormous Gospers Mountain fire eased over the weekend, with a little rain arriving right on cue.
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No properties around Newnes or the Wolgan Valley were in danger, Chifley-Lithgow superintendent Greg Sim said.
The fire had burned to the perimeter trail of a handful of properties in the Glen Davis area after the fire slowly descended from the escarpment, he said.
"The threat has eased, but the rain hasn't extinguished it," Mr Sim said.
"If conditions are not quite so favourable later this week, it could flare back up. We will be patrolling it constantly and continuing to carry out operations in the area."
Aircraft and ground crews were "blacking out" areas of the fire, which meant crews were wetting down the edges in an attempt to contain the blaze, which has burned more than 188,000 hectares since it began burning in October.
"Some of the areas burning are a long way into the bush and they are very hard to get to," Mr Sim said.
The current benign conditions were a boost for fire-fighters, but Tuesday was expected to be hotter and more windy.
"We're not suggesting it will be an extremely bad day, but we will be watching the weather closely," Mr Sim said.
Teams will be working on fire behaviour analysis, which will be creating predictive mapping of what the fire may do in the coming days.
Two fires, suspected of being lit by lightning during storms in the region on Saturday, at Dinner Gully and Waratah Ridge in the Wolgan Valley.
Aircraft and a rapid aerial response team (RAFT) was sent in to tackle the very remote Dinner Gully fire, which is now contained.
Mr Sim said a bulldozer was able to get around the Waratah Ridge fire, which was advantageous in allowing crews to contain it. It burned 54 hectares in total and is now under control. A strike team from Macarthur was brought in to tackle the blaze.
RFS crews would continue to monitor conditions on Tuesday. Mr Sim said more community meetings may be held in relation to the Gospers Mountain fire later in the week.
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Kirsty Horton
A journalist with 15 years of experience, Kirsty Horton has been the editor of the Lithgow Mercury newspaper and a journalist for mastheads including the Great Lakes Advocate, Nambucca Guardian News and Moree Champion. She is now a member of ACM's features and special publications team.
A journalist with 15 years of experience, Kirsty Horton has been the editor of the Lithgow Mercury newspaper and a journalist for mastheads including the Great Lakes Advocate, Nambucca Guardian News and Moree Champion. She is now a member of ACM's features and special publications team.
