Recent rain and cooler temperatures created the ideal conditions for a hazard reduction burn on Sunday along Willans Hill above the botanic gardens and the zoo.

Riverina's Rural Fire Service operational officer Bradley Stewart said the RFS and council had identified an asset protection zone around the zoo and botanic gardens and this weekend's work would reduce the risk of a fire threatening the facilities.

Mr Stewart said because there was a limited window to safely conduct controlled burns, the RFS focused on burning asset protection zones while utilising several other forms of hazard reduction through the bush land.

"Our focus predominantly when we use fire is doing very small, tactical burns around key infrastructure or assets that are important to the community," he said.

"The site doesn't have a massive hazard level of fuel on the ground, but by doing this we will remove what ground fuels are there," Mr Stewart said.

The burn will create a strategic fire advantage zone heading up to existing walking trails that double as a control line.

"By using these burns to clean up the asset protection zone, what we're doing is reducing the chances of ignition occurring," he said.

"What we also hope to achieve is, when a fire does occur, to reduce the intensity of that fire and make it much more safe for firefighters to engage the fire directly.

"Also it reduces the potential of that fire impacting on peoples' homes and other key infrastructure located throughout the community."

He said with Sunday's conditions they would be able to keep the burn cool and low intensity, which is both safer and can have ecological benefits, encouraging plant growth in the area.

The burn is in addition to a series of pile burns to reduce fine fuels over recent weeks, which Mr Stewart said had produced "outstanding results" with about 40 piles of fuel burnt safely.

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