![A plane drops water over one area of the fire at Hill End. Photo by Jhob Drinkwater. A plane drops water over one area of the fire at Hill End. Photo by Jhob Drinkwater.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XnvAZ6uRSAiEC6kxxV6TdP/404c7e6f-a2d0-4fed-abe9-bdbd1417521d.JPG/r0_0_1213_561_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
RESIDENTS on the firefront at Hill End have described the situation as surreal and like something out of a movie.
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Firefighters, air crews and heavy machinery operators as of 5pm on Wednesday are working hard to protect houses in the Hill End region as a bushfire continues to burn out of control.
It's the biggest fire the region has seen in over 100 years, now spanning over 7000 hectares, and is approaching Sallys Flat and Doughertys Junction Roads.
Jhob Drinkwater, who lives on four acres near Dixons Long Point and runs his own gold panning tour business, said conditions are "pretty full on" at the moment.
As he gave an interview over the phone, Mr Drinkwater was watching a massive plane drop water on top of a ridge that was ablaze with fire, and said the last couple of days have been very interesting.
"A lot of the locals haven't seen anything like this before. Some of the oldies that obviously have fought fires have been in this circumstance before, but we have a lot of new locals in the area and a lot of them haven't seen a response from the SES and RFS like we have out here at the moment," he said.
"That's probably the most overwhelming thing that everyone is talking about, there is a small army out here," he said.
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Mr Drinkwater said day one, on Monday, was a bit of shock, but after several days people were starting to wear thin.
With the firefront currently just one kilometre from his property, he said he is on edge all the time.
"It's quite close," he said.
Despite his proximity to the flames he said his intention is to stay and defend his property and help his neighbours.
"I've been helping other locals fight the fire on their property.... that was down near the roasting pits."
He said the night haven't been too bad, but day time is another story.
"It's been in my back yard, which it definitely too close for comfort," he said.
"I've been to my neighbours about four kilometres away and its been on their back doorstep."
Mr Drinkwater said he went to help them, and between them, they managed to defend the property from the flames.
"We helped until late in the night with knapsacks and water bottles," he said.
He said the situation was like something out of a movie.
"It's eerie, and the fire is just on a war path. It's like a movie. At one stage there were there were three aeroplanes in the sky and three helicopters in the sky all at one time," he said.
"We were all watching them from Dixons Long Point. There was a large group of people there, people who have been evacuated from the their homes."
Seeing it so close was confronting.
"We are definitely all on edge, no doubt about that," Mr Drinkwater said.
"We are all watching the wind as well, it's all anyone can talk about ... where the wind is going."
Asked if any day has been worse than another, he said it was impossible to say.
"The last three days has been an up and down battle, at one moment it looks to have died down the next moment its stirred back up," he said.
But the small community continues to rally together under the difficult circumstances.
"It's been amazing to see the amount of support crawling out of woodwork, with all of the locals in constant contact with each other," Mr Drinkwater said.
"When something like this happens we all band together, there is no doubt about that."
He said no one really knows what the next few days will hold for them.
"It seems it's just going to die down at night and tomorrow morning it will continue on its warpath."
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