It was the weekend we looked up. Hundreds flocked to Glenbrook Lagoon and other vantage points to watch seven water bombing helicopters fill up their containers and travel in loops, often just minutes apart, to and from the fire front.
The skill and precision of the aerial fire team - our angels in the skies - was on full display during the bushfire emergency in Warrimoo and Blaxland that began on Friday afternoon.
Firefighting aircrane Ichabod was a big drawcard, taking water from Penrith Lakes and dumping it directly onto the flames on the fire's edge.
Ichabod co-pilots, New Zealander Steve Podjursky and American Mike Connor, said they made about 30 water drops onto the flames during back-to-back shifts on Friday afternoon, with each drop dumping between 7000 to 10,000 litres.
They also did a two-hour shift from noon on Saturday and remained on standby at Warrimoo Oval.
"We were really fortunate the wind wasn't very strong on Friday afternoon when the fire started," Mr Connor said.
"Fire travels much faster when it goes uphill and the fire was in very steep terrain, so our big focus ... was to stop the fire coming from the valley up towards homes and schools."
Air attack supervisor Craig Burley, an RFS volunteer from the Hawkesbury, said his co-ordination job from the sky "was made a lot easier working with these pilots who have so much experience and know exactly what they are doing".
Speculation has mounted that the fire which burnt through 130 hectares of bushland at Warrimoo, causing the trains and highway to be shut down on Friday and children to be escorted from two primary schools by firefighters, may have been caused by arcing powerlines.
"They do believe it started [in a difficult to reach area] between Greens Road and Florabella Street [in Warrimoo] and there are powerlines ... but it is too soon to speculate and investigations are ongoing," RFS spokesman Matt Sun told the Gazette on Monday.
Fire crews are continuing to mop up the fire today after an anxious weekend for Warrimoo and Blaxland residents. The fire was contained on Sunday and at its height saw 260 firefighters from the RFS, NSW Fire and Rescue and National Parks, battling it on the ground while the aerial fire crews helped from the skies. Some 55 firefighters, including specialist Remote Area Firefighting Teams, and at least one helicopter, were still involved in the mopping up efforts on Monday, "working on putting out those hotspots".
"The crews will be there for the next few days until it is fully extinguished - "It's contained, it's not out, [but] there's very minimal fire activity. It's a day-to-day thing," Mr Sun said.
Warrimoo Public School principal Michael Kitchin said the school's 180 students were kept safe during the emergency. Most parents picked up their children after receiving text message alerts. The remaining few students left on the school bus which was given a police escort.
Blaxland Public was also affected but the RFS posted on Twitter on Friday afternoon that only four children remained at Blaxland Public School and were being cared by staff after most had been picked up early.
Many residents evacuated to Glenbrook Bowling Club [Panthers] but some were later advised to stay put at home as it was too dangerous to leave with both the highway blocked and trains stopped at Penrith. The train line and highway was re-opened early Friday evening.
On Friday RFS deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said the crews were "putting out embers as they land in the yards - there have also been embers on the other side of the highway".
On Monday the aerial crews gave wide-eyed students from nearby Wycliffe Christian School a peek inside Ichabod's cockpit while it rested at Warrimoo Oval.
Ichabod's New Zealand pilot Steve Podjursky was making a return visit to the area after flying the aircrane a few weeks ago during the bushfire in Cliff Drive, Katoomba. A second aircrane, called Gypsy Lady, will be stationed with Ichabod at Bankstown from December until the end of the bushfire season.
And Glenbrook's Jason White was another air hero, piloting a Bell 214 helicopter which can drop 2700 litres of water at a time, during Friday's fire.
Mr White said pilots did two hour shifts on Friday afternoon until dark and on Saturday, with 10 to 15-minute breaks in between to refuel the aircraft and to rest.
"The helicopter I flew does more surgical type water drops than the aircrane and can target particular spots like burning stumps.
"The pilots are all trying to do the same job but the aircraft we use have different capabilities and uses, so it is very much a team effort."
"Everything we pilots do is to assist the firefighters on the ground - we help them to achieve results," Mr White said.
The fire had been in inaccessible terrain for firefighters on the ground on Friday, with the RFS deputy commissioner Rob Rogers telling media that day they had been reliant on the aerial effort.
"It's been really difficult. The only weapon we have had to combat it is the helicopters," he said.