Police believe a series of fires in the region's north, one of which came perilously close to an explosive manufacturing facility, may have been deliberately lit.
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NSW Police have launched an investigation into bush fires at Cooks Cap. The biggest has burned through almost 200 hectares north of Mudgee and remains at 'advice' alert level.
NSW Rural Fire Service firefighters were called to five blazes on Tuesday afternoon in the area. Three were extinguished and two are still burning, as of Thursday night.
The fires are in the Ulan and Lagoons Road, Cooks Gap region.
Detectives have commenced inquiries into the fires, which are being treated as suspicious.
NSW Police are appealing for anyone with information, dashcam or CCTV footage from the area to come forward and contact Mudgee Police Station.
The fires
Fire and Rescue NSW Station 312 Gulgong attended the fires in Cooks Gap and detail how close the inferno came to becoming catastrophic.
At around 3.30pm on Wednesday, Fire and Rescue NSW was called to attend shortly after the initial triple-zero (000) calls to protect a nearby explosive manufacturing facility, which was being actively impacted by the fire, while volunteers from the NSW Rural Fire Service worked to extinguish the fire in nearby bushland.
Due to the size of the fire and threat of fire extension into the manufacturing plant, additional Fire and Rescue NSW crews were responded.
Crews from Mudgee, a hazmat team from Mudgee and a bulk water tanker from Dubbo attended the fire.
Crews from both Fire and Rescue NSW and the NSW Rural Fire Service, along with numerous aerial firefighting assets worked in a major multi-agency effort to contain the fire and minimise impact on nearby properties, houses and infrastructure, Gulgong team member Paul Cavalier details in a social media post.
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Nick McGrath
Editor, Central Western Daily
Editor, Central Western Daily
