THE danger was far from over at Oura yesterday with water bombing aircraft flying over the town in a bid to stop potential fire outbreaks that would send more than 50 homes up in flames.
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The colour orange marked much of the landscape as fire retardant covered land at Oura, Oura Road and Wantabadgery in anticipation for the dangerous winds later in the day.
By noon gusts came in at 80km/h and water-bombing aircraft could no longer be used.
There were a number of close calls that would have had a devastating impact on the area, including at 10am when a burned out tree at Oura Park sent sparks flying to the grass.
"There was a tree and it was contained by crews but it could have taken off quite quickly," RFS media liaison Matt Apps said yesterday.
"The issue with Oura was the westerly winds with the potential that if a fire did break out it would have impacted on 40 to 50 homes and the town of Wantabadgery in a matter of hours."
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A total of 105 firefighters worked at the scene throughout the day to keep properties out of harm's way in one of the worst fire danger days in NSW history.
Mr Apps said it was likely the fire would be contained by today but it would depend on the winds and what crews were able to do throughout the night.
"The Oura fire is still being controlled because we've been putting containment lines around it," he said.
The fire at Oura first broke at 11am on Monday, burning almost 900 hectares while residents had to be evacuated for a number of hours.
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