When a dry lightning storm passed over the Pilliga forest on Friday night, December 8, it left in it's wake a bushfire which while now being controlled, has burned out more than 129,200 hectares.
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The Duck Creek fire was listed as out of control a number of times, with a fire-generated thunderstorm causing the blaze to double in size before firefighters began to get the upper hand by Wednesday afternoon, December 20, assisted by significant rainfall across the fire-ground.
Burning within approximately 17 kilometres south of Narrabri, 20km west of Boggabri and 40km north east of Coonabarabran, the Duck Creek Pilliga Forest fire has caused havoc for more than 12 days.
NSW RFS Narrabri Control Centre public information officer Allan McCartney said the the rain brought some welcome relief.
"We had an average of 20 millimetres of rain overnight on the fire-ground which is certainly not enough to put it out but it has quietened the fire's activity," he said.
"We have limited intelligence on the fire-ground this morning, but we've got crews out there assessing where the fire edge is at the moment so hopefully we'll get some air crews up to do more scanning.
"The current weather is not conducive to a big fire spread, however it will change so there is still quite a bit of containment work to be done.
"While there are areas in the south that have taken a run, there is still some unburnt country in between that which has got the potential for erratic fire behaviour when the rain stops and it drys out.
"We don't have any detail on livestock losses at the moment, and we don't have a figure on property damage yet but we have no reported house losses."
Bureau Of Meteorology meteorologist Jiwon Park said wet weather conditions and cooler temperatures were expected for the mid-week.
"Starting from Tuesday we expect thunderstorms in the Narrabri area, it could be hit and miss, but it could also have the potential to bring localised heavy falls," he said.
"The main activity of rainfall is expected on Tuesday through to Thursday with the peak on Wednesday, however any rainfall above five millimetres will be useful for the firefighting efforts.
"We also expect the temperature to drop 10 degrees to somewhere between 24 to 27 degrees during the mid-week period before it rises again towards the end of the week."
In the Jacks Creek area, 30 kilometres south of Narrabri, local sheep producer Nic Hann said her property was impacted by two fire-fronts on Monday December 18 and remained very unsteady on Tuesday December 19.
"We managed to save all of our assets and majority of our livestock, although it is too dangerous to complete a full property inspection," she said.
"Judging by the movement of the fire, at least 80 per cent of our property has been impacted in some way.
"Without being able to assess the property due to falling trees and continual smoulder it is hard to be certain."
Evacuation centres have been established in Narrabri and Gunnedah for affected residents.
The Newell highway between Narrabri and Coonabarabran remains closed.
Visit www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/major-fire-updates for further information.
