More than 230 firefighters were still working on Tuesday to put out a fire in inaccessible terrain around Tableland Road in Wentworth Falls - just a fortnight after heavy snow fell.
RFS Blue Mountains district manager David Jones said with a "significant number of hazard reduction burns still to be done" he had some concerns "now that we have had a major fire in the middle of winter".
"It is bizarre," he told the Gazette.
"I've been talking with my colleagues at National Parks ... it might be replicating that natural process that's happening in the Snowies [Snowy Mountains]... having a fire when the snow melts and then another fire season."
Remote area teams were set to be winched in by helicopter to the fire zone on Monday afternoon during a "weather window" with calmer winds, Supt Jones said.
Some 234 firefighters worked to protect homes and battle the fire which started in suspicious circumstances on Friday night. By Sunday morning there were three separate "out of control" fires within a few kilometres of each other - at Genevieve Road in Bullaburra, Tableland Road and Hordern Road, as well as another 23km away at Mitchells Pass in Glenbrook.
A total of 393 hectares had burned by Monday after 80km/hr winds fanned the flames on Sunday morning.
Three helicopter water bombing aircraft were still bucketing water from the air as the Gazette went to press.
Mayor Mark Greenhill said he, too, was concerned about the unusual timing of the fire.
"We have an out of control bushfire two weeks to the day that we had snow in the area," Clr Greenhill said.
"You can't help thinking about the fact that this is winter. Ours is a climate of extremes. With scientists predicting tough weather patterns this summer, we all need to focus on having our bushfire survival plans ready."
Police doorknocked some 200 homes at the height of the fire, warning them of their options to stay or go, but the Great Western Highway remained open and Rural Fire Service and police were adamant it was "no Yellow Rock".
"It's not Yellow Rock, it's a standard Blue Mountains bushfire and Rural Fire Service are well in control," said Sergeant Mick Magill at the fireground headquarters on Coronation Road over the weekend.
Some residents chose to leave but none were forced to evacuate. Staff at the nearby Bodington Aged Care Home were "advised in relation to smoke drift", RFS group leader for Blue Mountains, Mick Metcalfe, said.
Multiple RFS trucks from local stations, as well as Cumberland, Macarthur and Sutherland, spent days in driveways along Coronation and Hordern roads. Tableland Road was blocked off to anyone other than local residents and emergency services.
Clr Greenhill said he was "hopeful" of a quiet summer but added, "we must stay alert".
"As our climate does change, it means more vigilance ...we have to pay year-round attention to our individual fire safety plans."
Supt Jones said, as per usual, they would closely monitor weather patterns before future hazard reductions occurred. He said the area around Coronation Road had its last hazard reduction in 2001.
Supt Jones said they hoped to have the fire out by Thursday or Friday and if necessary would create a hard containment line at Ingar Fire Trail to make sure it was "fully out".
"We want to make sure it's turned off properly. We can't be blase just because it's winter."
A 34-year-old man has been charged in connection with a fire at Glenbrook, which started at 1.30am on Saturday. He will appear in court on August 24. Sgt Magill said the fire at Wentworth Falls is "one that requires investigation".
