UPDATE: Wednesday 7.20pm
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THE NSW Rural Fire Service say the forest fire at Central Mullion is now under control.
Since the fire started on Tuesday afternoon it has grown in size to 151 hectares.
It is burning through privately-owned pine plantation and state conservation area in Mullion Creek.
The fire remains at ‘advice’ level with no immediate danger.
Wednesday, 5.30pm:
POLICE are investigating the cause of a large fire that has burnt out around 136 hectares of isolated pine forests north of Orange and 14.7 hectares of a state conservation area in Mullion Creek.
Canobolas Local Command duty officer Brenden Turner said the fire started close to an area that’s know to be a dumping ground for vehicles, many of which had been set alight.
Acting inspector Turner said “hoodlums” are known to frequent the area.
“There are a couple of burnt out wrecks in the area, but the matter is under investigation,” he said.
Acting inspector Turner said police were interviewing people on neighbouring properties and talking to Rural Fire Service crews.
Rural Fire Service (RFS) crews have been working since Tuesday afternoon to contain the fire which is burning in a privately-owned pine forest at the end of Bevan Road, Mullion Creek and the Mullion Range State Conservation Area.
Planes were also used to water bomb the fire due to the inaccessibility of the area.
Wednesday, 9am:
FIRE crews worked overnight to contain a blaze that's already burnt out around 130 hectares of isolated pine forests north of Orange and 26 hectares of a state conservation area in Mullion Creek.
Rural Fire Service (RFS) crews are still working to contain the fire, which is burning in a privately-owned pine forest at the end of Bevan Road, Mullion Creek and the Mullion Range State Conservation Area.
RFS crews were also called to contain a spot fire south of the containment lines.
No evacuations were ordered overnight.
Tuesday, 8pm:
THE NSW Rural Fire Service reports the Central Mullion fire burning through a pine plantation north of Orange is now 52 hectares.
The fire is still at ‘advice’ level with no immediate danger and is currently ‘being controlled’.
Tuesday, 5pm:
FIRE crews remained on-scene overnight to try to contain a 15-hectare forest fire burning near isolated farm properties north of Orange.
The fire broke out mid-afternoon in a privately-owned pine plantation at the end of Bevan Roadat Mullion Creek.
Yesterday afternoon’s hot, windy weather had firefighters scrambling to contain the blaze.
By 5.30pm yesterday, spot fires had started to the east of containment lines.
The five-hectare fire had also tripled in size to 15 hectares.
The dense pine plantation proved difficult for firefighters and their trucks to access so a water bombing helicopter was brought in late yesterday to tackle the blaze from above.
NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) Canobolas Zone duty officer Brett Bowden said there were no properties under threat late yesterday.
“The nearest house is two kilometres to the north,” he said.
“The fire is moving in a north-east direction.”
By last yesterday there were more than 35 firefighters on the scene, along with nine fire trucks and heavy plant equipment to construct a fire break.
“We’ve got relatively good containment lines,” Mr Bowden said late yesterday.
He issued a warning for residents in Orange and Cabonne that they would still see smoke around Mullion Creek today.
“Residents will still see smoke over the next few days,” he said.
Stay up-to-date with news on this fire at the NSW Rural Fire Service website.