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AS THE dust settles on firegrounds across the region, the true scale of the tragedy begins to emerge.
At the Minjary fire, north of Tumut, there are fields blackened by flames for as far as they eye can see, interrupted by homes that have been miraculously saved by the tireless efforts of firefighters.
It's a scene echoed at the Minnimbah fire around Carabost, responsible for the destruction of three homes in the area, and at the Sturgess fire at Blowering Dam which firefighters were still working to contain yesterday.
Tumut mayor Trina Thomson and her Gundagai counterpart, Abb McAlister, were given an aerial tour of the Minjary and Sturgess fires this week.
Cr Thomson said seeing the devastation from the air had put the gargantuan efforts undertaken by the Rural Fire Service to save homes into perspective.
"The debt of gratitude we owe the RFS and all of the volunteers just cannot be measured," she said.
But Cr Thomson has warned that the danger isn't over for the Tumut area yet.
"We're not out of the woods yet because our bushfire period goes until March," she said.
"We really need people to be so conscious of not throwing their cigarette butts out the windows and not throwing glass bottles out of the window."
Four firefighters were hospitalised as a result of the Sturgess fire on Tuesday evening.
One firefighter from the ACT was taken to Tumut hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation before being released the following morning.
Three firefighters from Batlow had a lucky escape after their truck rolled - one sustained a broken arm but the other two escaped with minor injuries.
Community meetings were held in Gilmore and Gundagai last night to update residents on the fire situation, with another scheduled for tonight at 7pm at the Batlow Literary Institute.
Meanwhile, the Minnimbah fire has finally been brought under control by firefighters but residents have been told not to return to their properties until tomorrow.
Road closures remained in place throughout the day yesterday with firefighters assessing trees by the roadside damaged by the fire.