Two fires which devastated the Wollondilly and Wingecarribee shires have now been listed as out by the Rural Fire Service.
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On Monday afternoon, the RFS published a list of seven fires now out, adding the Green Wattle Creek and Morton fires to those extinguished since Friday.
Together the seven fires, which also include Currowan, Gospers Mountain, Kerry Ridge, Myall Creek Road and Erskine Creek, burnt more than 1.5 million hectares of land.
"This is the most positive news we've had in some time," the RFS said.
"The recent rainfall has assisted firefighters to put over 30 fires out since Friday. Some of these blazes have been burning for weeks and even months."
The Green Wattle Creek fire started on November 27, destroying homes and claiming the lives of NSW RFS volunteers.
On December 19, it ripped through the villages of Balmoral and Bargo.
That same day two young fathers, Geoffrey Keaton, 32, and Andrew O'Dwyer, 36, died as a giant, burnt-out tree fell and crushed their truck while they were battling the blaze.
The fire was listed as contained, but not extinguished, on January 29.
The Morton fire formed late on the night of January 4, after embers from the Currowan fire jumped the Shoalhaven River.
Southerly winds of up to 90kph pushed the flames across the Kangaroo Valley and towards the Southern Highlands communities of Bundanoon, Wingello and Exeter.
The Currowan fire was listed as out on Saturday, just in time for firefighters to take a victory lap at the Nowra show.
That blaze burnt for 74 days and across 499,621 hectares, spanning right across the region and spreading to neighbouring councils including Eurobodalla, Wingecarribee and Queanbeyan Palerang.
A total of 312 homes were destroyed and 173 were damaged.
Further south, heavy rainfall across the Bega Valley has alleviated most - but not all - bushfire activity. All the fires in the shire are now declared under control, but not out.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
