“The firefighters have been amazing,” she said. “They have contained it really well.”

“All night you could see it burning,” Mr North said. “We were worried about our house, running around filling the gutters with water. It was scary.”

“Look at the money that has been spent here in the last couple of days,” he said. “Something has to change.”

NSW

NSW firefighters yesterday brought under control the most serious of the fires burning in the state, at Peats Ridge on the central coast, north of Sydney.

Residents in the area had spent a terrifying night as more than 300ha of bush burned around them, threatening more than half a dozen homes.

Three fixed-wing aircraft made a spectacular sight as they sprayed red fire retardant to establish containment lines yesterday afternoon, before a successful backburning operation.

Five helicopters and an air crane dumped water on the still-smouldering bushland and more than 200 firefighters were also battling the blaze.

Other fires still burning in NSW last night included:

* An uncontained fire that has burned about 400ha in the Deua National Park, 40km southwest of Moruya on the NSW south coast.

* A 140ha fire in Wybong, southwest of Scone in the Hunter Valley.

* A fire in the South East Forest National Park, in the Bega Valley, which has burned about 1900ha of bushland. The owner of one of the endangered properties at Peats Ridge, Christine Tynan, said Saturday night had been terrifying.

“It came close to one of the houses on the property,” the mother of three said.

“We were extremely worried it would come up to our house. It was very scary.”

She said that when she and her family got home about 3pm, they were given 10 minutes to evacuate their property. But they decided to stay to protect it.

“The firefighters have been amazing,” she said. “They have contained it really well.”

Ben North, 22, a mechanic who rents a house on the same property, said the fire had started only a few hundred metres away and taken off through the bush.

“All night you could see it burning,” Mr North said. “We were worried about our house, running around filling the gutters with water. It was scary.”

Police arrested a 31-year-old man and later charged him with arson. He was refused bail and was due to face Gosford Local Court today.

A NSW Fire Service spokesman said a backburning operation in the Brisbane Waters National Park at Peats Ridge had gone according to plan.

The backburning created a spectacular sight as two fires collided, sending clouds of smoke hundreds of metres into the sky. Sheets of flame jumped from tree to tree as helicopters dumped water on to the fire, adding plumes of steam to the smoke.

Local farmer Stephen Peruch, 44, said it had been 30 years since the area had burnt. He said he could distinctly remember the last fire, which occurred when he was a teenager.

He said his father and other local farmers had regularly burned the gully to stop a build-up of fuel, but the local council had forbidden this for the past 30 years and the present fire was one of the results.

“Look at the money that has been spent here in the last couple of days,” he said. “Something has to change.”

—– NSW UNDER THREAT —–

Firefighters use helicopters to battle blazes

Fires:

PEATS RIDGE

* Fire has destroyed about 300ha of bushland in the Brisbane Waters National Park and on private property, near Gosford, on the central coast. Five aircraft, 30 trucks and 100 firefighters were on the scene and there was no direct threat to property.

MUSWELLBROOK

* More than 140ha has been destroyed at Wybong, southwest of Scone, in the Hunter region. About 50 firefighters were working to contain the fire with the help of waterbombing aircraft. No properties were under threat but one car was destroyed by fire on Saturday. The Rural Fire Service issued a warning to residents about smoke encroaching on local roads.

SINGLETON

* Three separate fires merged into one and have destroyed 1000ha of bushland in the Wollemi National Park, 25km northwest of Putty and 44km south of Denman in NSW Hunter region.

Firefighters and eight aircraft were working to contain the fire, burning in remote terrain.

No properties were under threat but nearby residents were advised to protect themselves from large amounts of smoke emanating from the fire.

BEGA VALLEY

* Bushfire on the far south coast of NSW has torched 1300ha of remote bushland near Bega, in the South East Forest National Park. Fire burning about 7km southeast of Wyndham and 25km west of Pambula. Eleven waterbombing aircraft were assisting more than 100 firefighters battling the blaze.

Residents from Towamba, Wyndham and Burragate advised to remove all flammable materials from their properties.

Credit: John Stapleton