Residents take stock after NSW fires

Easing conditions have helped firefighters control bushfires that raged through Sydney's west. Source: AAP

RESIDENTS have described an eerie purple hue and a roar like a steam engine as bushfires tore through Sydney's greater west, while the government has defended backburning operations.

And while some were hailing the bravery of firefighters who saved their homes, others had to deal with thieves who looted property from their burnt out homes.

NSW Rural Fire Service crews had contained fires at Castlereagh and Londonderry on Wednesday and were in the process of controlling one of the worst, in Winmalee in the Blue Mountains.

"It's nowhere as near as bad as (Tuesday), so we're not expecting problems," Deputy commissioner of the RFS, Rob Rogers, told Fairfax Radio.

Some Winmalee residents have raised concerns that recent hazard reduction burns in the area by National Parks may have got out of control on Tuesday with both the RFS and NSW Police investigating the cause and origin of the bushfires.

RFS Deputy Commission Rob Rogers said hazard reduction burns are necessary but conceded they are risky.

"We're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't with hazard reductions," he said.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell also defended backburning operations across the state.

"When you don't undertake hazard reduction you leave the fuel load as it is and it grows and that's even more lethal," he said.

The fire destroyed one home and several cars, boats and a fire truck on Tuesday, while livestock and pets were lost.

Residents like Josh Jones and his father Steve, of Winmalee were coming to terms with their experience on Wednesday.

"It was pretty scary, there were a couple of times we were engulfed in smoke and the flames were everywhere, we were on the borderline of getting out of here but we stood our ground and we held it off," Josh told the Seven Network.

Fellow Winmalee resident Janine Prendergast said fire fighters saved her house.

"They are the most amazing people in the world," she said.

The fire came uncomfortably close to Keith Greenaway.

"It was dark, it was that eerie purple colour," he said.

"The roar of the fire - people say it sounds like a steam engine, well it does."

In Marsden Park, Dave Morris lost precious family photos when embers got into his house. He later discovered someone had stolen his laptop.

"How can people do that? Come to someone's house after its been burnt out and take their stuff. They're just ***holes."

The Bureau of Meteorology says bushfire affected areas will be "on the fringe" of high danger on Thursday with a south-easterly change in the late afternoon bringing cooler, more humid air into the region.

"It should prove more favourable conditions for the guys fighting the fires," a spokesman said.

The fire danger would become moderate to low with a possibility of showers overnight on Thursday and Friday.

An Education Department spokesman said Winmalee Primary and High Schools would reopen for students on Thursday.

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