FIREFIGHTERS face a "very annoying" week of hot, dry conditions with a huge amount of work to be done on blazes tearing through the region.
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Temperatures are tipped to soar later this week with parts of the region predicted to hot 40 degrees on Wednesday.
There's only a slim chance of thunderstorms later in the week, but there appears to be very little rain forthcoming as summer approaches.
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Tamworth Rural Fire Service (RFS) Superintendent Allyn Purkiss told the Leader the fire danger would stay fairly consistent in the region until there was some rain.
"Wednesday and Thursday will probably be the worst of it," he said.
"Friday it backs off a bit, but it is fairly consistent.
"It will be stinking hot and hopefully there's not a lot of wind.
"It is very annoying, we could really do with some rain."
In the Tamworth region, crews have been working to contain a 5700 hectare fire in the Moonbi Hills.
Supt Purkiss said a containment line had been established around the fire but it was expected to burn for a few more days.
However, Sunday threw a spanner in the works as smoke blanketed the Tamworth region in the morning.
The smell of smoke was thick in the air as well and it prompted many calls to emergency services on Sunday.
Supt Purkiss reminded people to confirm smoke sightings before dialling 000.
"Make sure you see flames before calling it in," he said.
"We were trying to get our people rested, so they don't need to be chasing these things in times like this.
"We've had clouds reported as smoke plumes, so we ask people to double check before calling."
He said the smoke had been blown-over from fires burning in the national parks east of Walcha.
The Office of Environment and Heritage rated the air quality on Tamworth on Sunday morning as extremely hazardous.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the city (397) was double the benchmark the state government sets for hazardous air quality.
The situation was even worse in Gunnedah where the the AQI was listed at 573 on Sunday morning.
With hotter temperatures on the way, Supt Purkiss thanked the community and volunteers for the valuable support offered through last week.
"A lot of them have put in very big days and a lot of hard work," he said.
"They see those little messages of support that have been sent through; that helps lift morale.
"This job isn't over, there is still a long way to go."