Wednesday saw the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) reopen Pilliga Forest and all associated campgrounds and day use areas, after the Rural Fire Service officially classified the Duck River Pilliga Forest fire as out. 

"People travelling in the area may see some smoke due to trees/logs still burning well within containment," said Superintendent Bron Waters RFS District Manager Tamworth, who transferred to Narrabri to be the incident controller for the event. 

The enormous fire largely burnt out Forestry Estate in the area.  

"NPWS Pilliga Forest visitor sites were not affected by the recent fire which predominantly burnt out the central area and eastern side of the Pilliga Forest," said a NPWS spokesperson. 

The NPWS managed Pilliga Special Conservation Area and Pilliga Nature Reserve to the south were also burnt out, but are areas not accessed by the public. 

Picture from the RFS facebook page

 

Pilliga Forest visitor sites (Dandry Gorge, Sculptures in the Scrub, Salt Caves, etc) were not affected as they are located on the western side of the forest. 

"With an estimated 8-10,000 visitors annually, the focus now is making the reserves safe to access and then an assessment will be done to ascertain the full impacts of the fire," said the spokesperson.  

In separate news, the Sandstone Caves walking track in the Pilliga Nature Reserve remains closed until further notice, due to a rockfall hazard.