About 350 people attended a community meeting organised by the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) at Winmalee on Thursday night to update residents on the fire situation at Winmalee and Yellow Rock.
During the meeting numerous concerns were raised by the residents that packed the Winmalee High School hall.
Some people did not receive an RFS emergency safety warning text message to take shelter, others were concerned about a lack of hazard reduction burns occurring in Winmalee and Yellow Rock, as well as communication issues around road blocks.
Blue Mountains RFS district manager David Jones said the fire had been controlled late Thursday, but there would be smoke in the area until Sunday as the fire was still burning in the middle, but it would be watched carefully by fire crews as warmer temperatures were expected on Monday.
He said an incident management team had been in place since Tuesday afternoon.
"You plan for the worst and hope for the best and that's what we're doing, and part of that planning for the worst is how you then resource that fire and what you then need to go ahead and deal with it."
For the full story, see next Wednesday's Gazette.