Volunteer firefighters at the Berrima Fire Brigade have been touched by the amount of support shown by the community.
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Men and women from the Southern Highlands joined the fight in neighbouring Wollondilly to try and contain the Green Wattle Creek fire.
Berrima Rural Fire Brigade community liason person Jenny Cavanagh said that the station had been overwhelmed by the community support.
"Everyone is doing it tough," she said.
"It's wonderful. We haven't seen anything like it."
"If people want to donate, they can call their local RFS Brigade and ask what they need.
"Earlier today we had someone drop off sunscreen and other supplies."
Southern Highland News was present when two donations were made to the Berrima Fire Brigade station on Wednesday evening. Both donations included plenty of water, gatorade and snacks for the volunteers.
Ms Cavanagh said that the donations were important to help the volunteer firefighters going.
"The basic of any fire fighting vehicle is to have enough supplies for 48 hours," she said.
"We are so grateful for the supplies."
The Green Wattle Creek has currently burnt through 112 thousand hectares of bush land and was caused by a lightening strike.
"It won't go away soon," Ms Cavanagh said.
"We have teams out every day doing 12 hour shifts.
"Berrima has 14 active members and we're all on the line or behind the scenes.
"At the moment we are working on containment lines, property protection and backburning.
"Containment lines are a refuge point to physically fight the fire or start a back burn."
Berrima RFS captain Gerard Poll said that conditions were difficult due to the drought conditions.
"It's a lot dryer, it's tinder dry and more sporadic," he said
"There's not enough water and winds make it difficult.
"There's a lot of preparation that goes on before we do any back burning.
"We are doing our hardest.
"It's an incredible operation."
Despite the extreme fire conditions, Ms Cavanagh said that everyone enjoys what they do.
"We enjoy the mateship and have a laugh together," she said.
"It's part of the Aussie spirit.
"It's great to give back to the community.
"We can't do what we do without the support of our families and the support of employers who let us take time off.
"It's a fantastic environment and we have a 50/50 split of females and males.
"We are always after new members and there are lots of different roles."
People who would like to help are asked to drop donations off at several NSW RFS stations in the Wingecarribee Shire on December 18 between 6 pm and 8 pm.
The volunteers of the NSW RFS are thankful for the continued community support during the bush fire season.
NSW RFS locations in the Wingecarribee Shire include Alpine, Avoca, Balmoral Village, Berrima, Bundanoon, Burrawang, Canyonleigh, Colo Vale, Exeter, Hill Top, Mandemar, Wingecarribee Support, Mittagong, Moss Vale, Penrose, Robertson, Wingello, Wollondilly, Woodlands and Yerrinbool.
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Vera Demertzis
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
