RURAL firefighters faced a busy weekend, battling at least five blazes across New England in heatwave conditions.
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One blaze, in remote, rugged terrain at Trap Mountain, near Tenterfield, remains out of control
The bushfire has already destroyed 876 hectares of forest and on Monday, December 11 was moving in a westerly direction, towards Beardy River.
Aircraft and heavy machinery has been deployed by on-ground firefighters, who are trying to establish containment lines.
The blazes broke out over the weekend, when hot, windy conditions fanned flames and created challenging conditions for on-ground firefighters.
In the Long Gully Road area south of Tingha, aircraft was deployed to help firies contain a blaze on Saturday, December 9. That fire is now under control.
About 67 hectares of bush was destroyed in Yetman, near Inverell before firefighters brought flames under control there.
Tenterfield firies were being kept busy with another bushfire in the Bolivia Nature reserve.
As of Monday, December 11 that fire is being controlled, having destroyed 125 hectares of bushland.
In Armidale firefighters were called to a grass fire near The Avenue on Monday, December 11 while another grass fire in Wandsworth, near Inverell, is being controlled.
A pall of smoke from the fires hung over many towns on Sunday, December 11.
But that had largely cleared by Monday and monitoring by the NSW Environment department indicated good air quality.
A total fire ban remains in force for Glen Innes, Tenterfield, Uralla, Walcha and Armidale.
The ban is due to expire tomorrow, December 11 as conditions ease.
New England residents face another week of sweltering temperatures with the mercury expect to tip 41 degrees in Moree on the weekend, December 16 and 17.
Temperatures in Tenterfield and Armidale will hover in the range of high 20 degrees to low 30 degrees.
There's a 70 per cent chance of rain towards the end of the week, though the Bureau of Meteorology is tipping only light showers across the region.