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By Faye Wheeler
The blazes broke out on rural properties in the Narromine, Dubbo and Eumungerie districts as strong winds buffeted dry slopes and plains.
The fire at an Old Dubbo Road property, fought by the Eschol brigade on Saturday morning, had been deemed suspicious and was under investigation by police, NSW Rural Fire Service Orana team leader Lyndon Wieland said yesterday as he reported of the testing weekend.
Altogether 25 tankers were deployed to the four incidents that occurred on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, he said.
They contained "100-odd volunteers" who responded to the call to defend their communities and received the praise of their boss.
Superintendent Wieland said that on Friday night - when the RFS fought one fire near Narromine, only to receive a callout to another two hours later - the front of a storm brought winds of more than 70km/h.
"Only for the quick response of our volunteers, we'd still be chasing those fires," he said.
The strong winds were the likely cause of one incident.
The first fire on the Warren road out of Narromine was believed to have been started by a powerline coming down in the wind, Superintendent Wieland said.
The fire at Merritts Lane about 15km from Narromine on Friday night was believed to have been started by a vehicle driving through stubble, he said.
Late on Sunday the team leader advised that a hay baler was the cause of yesterday (Sunday) morning's fire on the Narromine-Eumungerie road about 13km from Eumungerie.
Superintendent Wieland welcomed the arrival of slightly cooler temperatures and a drop in the wind's strength yesterday, but identified residents using "common sense" as vital to a reprieve.
"We're really asking the community to be careful with what they're doing, even on cooler days (because) if there's a wind, it's hard to control," he said.
He asked people considering slashing or mowing dry grass, angle-grinding or welding to "sum up the situation".
"I'm sure if they think about it, they'll think it doesn't have to be done today," he said.
More than 1000 firefighters were deployed across NSW on Saturday to battle 70 bushfires.
A NSW State Emergency Service (SES) spokesman said there were 13 callouts at Dubbo on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as a result of strong winds.
The SES provided assistance to the incidents, which included about 10 trees or branches down and some damage to rooves.
