A fifth teenager has been charged after investigations into the bushfires which have rampaged across NSW over the last week.
NSW Police have charged a 15-year-old boy after a fire was allegedly lit by a group of teenagers at the base of a cliff in Blaxland in the Blue Mountains region.
Locals confronted the teens who tried - but failed - to smother the fire last Wednesday.
Firefighters were called in to extinguish the fire as police arrested three 16-year-old boys at the scene.
A 16-year-old girl handed herself in to police the next day and, on Tuesday, the fifth teenager was arrested.
They were all charged with recklessly lighting a fair in a total fire ban and are expected in a children's court on September 6.
Meanwhile the Civil Aviation Safety Authority announced it was investigating an illegal drone flight which grounded aircraft who were battling a blaze at Ellangowan on Saturday.
CASA spokesman Peter Gibson told AAP the flight was "idiotic" and could have been "catastrophic" if the drone had been struck by an aircraft.
Crews will continue to battle more than 60 bush and grass fires across NSW overnight.
Less than ten blazes are now listed as out of control as of Tuesday evening.
A further 15 fires are being brought under control.
More than 600 firefighters remain on the ground supported by more than 40 aircraft.
Tuesday's very high fire danger in the far north coast and New England areas is expected to be downgraded to high for Wednesday and no total fire bans are currently in effect.
Rain is forecast later this week - but the key is how widespread and heavy it will be.
"Anything at this point will give us a bit of reprieve ... and will generally reduce the fire activity we are seeing," NSW Rural Fire Service Inspector Ben Shepherd told AAP on Tuesday.
Three homes and more than 20 buildings have been destroyed by fires across NSW since the middle of last week. So far seven people have been charged with deliberately lighting fires.
Tributes have also flown for "hero" firefighting pilot Allan Tull who died in a helicopter crash while battling a bushfire in the state's south.
It's thought his water bucket got caught in trees and pulled down the chopper.
"Although we have lost him, his work has helped to allow others to live their lives," one person connected to the Tull family wrote on Facebook on Monday.
Share
