Goulburn and district blazes experience a welcome reprieve

Falls ranged between 5mm and 17mm in the region but authorities have said much more was needed to douse the blazes.

Two major fires in the area - Green Wattle Creek and Morton - are 'being controlled,' while another two - Jacqua Creek and Charleys Forest are under control.

RFS Southern Tablelands operations officer Michael Gapps said the Green Wattle Creek fire around Wombeyan Caves received 17mm on Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, crews were assessing whether they could access tracks to check on fire activity.

"There were still some flare ups as the storm front came through at about 7pm but crews were on hand to deal with them," he said.

"...With the cooler conditions they have been able to be more aggressive in their attack and they have had remote area crews working where they couldn't to stem the spread.

"Given the dryness of the fuel we are still seeing considerable fire behaviour in benign conditions and that has surprised (personnel), although they have been able to manage it."

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Aerial support has also continued in the past few days. On the ground, crews have been strengthening containment lines to the east of Taralga and around High Range.

The RFS is urging people to take extreme caution along Wombeyan Caves Road, which is open to Goodmans Crossing.

The Green Wattle fire stands at 277,517 hectares and spans Upper Lachlan, Oberon, Wingecarribee and Wollondilly council areas.

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Mr Gapps said everyone was waiting with bated breath to see if the forecast 40mm to 50mm of rain would come through.

Meantime, the Morton fire, which stands at 19,250ha, is also still flaring up in places. These occurred around the Bundanoon area on Wednesday afternoon but were quickly extinguished, the RFS said.

"Current aerial reconnaissance reports there is minimal fire activity across all areas of the fireground, however, there has been some active fire below Teudts Road, Penrose," the latest newsletter states.

Mr Gapps said conditions were relatively benign around Caoura Road, Tallong, but on Wednesday there were a few hot spots that crews extinguished and continued monitoring. Four to five crews were on scene.

Local firefighters have been given a reprieve with several strike teams working in the area. Aerial support was also on hand on Tuesday.

Tallong resident Peter Downie received 5.5mm at his Caoura Road property, 10km from the village.

"The humidity is still quite high and we're expecting more this afternoon. It's looking very stormy," he said at 3pm.

"The rain will assist greatly with suppression but I still feel there will be pockets of fire. There's still a lot of unburnt country but it's pretty remote."

Mr Downie said people were returning to properties with stock after previously evacuating. But the former RFS volunteer warned people shouldn't become complacent.

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"I don't have a crystal ball but if we don't get 100mm of rain in the next fortnight, it (the fire) will be just ticking away...The run isn't over yet," he said.

The Currowan fire stands at 313,089ha and is burning between Nowra and Batemans Bay and east of Braidwood.

Mr Gapps said it was still active on the eastern side of the Shoalhaven River and near the Goulburn Mulwaree border. In this area, the Charleys Forest fire is on Currowan's western flank.

But around south Marulan, Currowan is burning in inaccessible country.

"There has been discussion about putting remote area firefighting teams in to extinguish hotspots as the fire behaviour subsides," Mr Gapps said.

Nearby, the Jacqua Creek blaze, which broke out on December 28, is under control. The fireground received 5-10mm on Wednesday night. Crews are continuing to patrol and attend to hotpsots.

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Mr Gapps said although conditions were benign across the four firegrounds, the rain so far wasn't sufficient to put them out.

"If we don't get any more rain, we need to address these things before it heats up again and brings these fires back to life. About 100mm of rain would be fantastic," he said.

Mr Gapps also reminded landholders to remain vigilant, given Wednesday night's lightning strikes could leave logs smouldering for weeks.