UPDATE Thursday, January 2
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Wilton Road in Lake Macquarie remained closed on Thursday morning due to a fire burning in the area, however, Wangi Road had reopened following a safety assessment, Lake Macquarie City Council has said.
Awaba Waste Management Facility was closed Thursday as a precaution, but normal kerbside waste collections throughout the City have not been affected.
The fire, which by early Thursday morning had burnt more than 148 hectares of bush, remains at 'advice' level.
Earlier: Holiday traffic along the western shores of Lake Macquarie has been diverted, with a bushfire forcing the closure of Wangi Road for several kilometres.
The blaze began late on New Year's Eve, and dozens of firefighters from at least 10 brigades have spent the first hours of 2020 trying to contain the flames in about 30 hectares of bush along the Awaba side of Wangi Road
As a result, Wangi Road has been closed between Summerhill Drive and Dorrington Road.
Traffic has been diverted through Wangi Wangi and Arcadia Vale to Rathmines.
At one stage in the early hours of January 1, the fire threatened to jump Wangi Road. Embers blew across the road but were quickly extinguished by crews positioned to prevent spot fires.
On the opposite side of the road are Myuna Colliery and the lakeside communities of Wangi Wangi and Arcadia Vale.
"When the wind picked up, it increased the intensity of the fire," said Heather Jones, Senior Deputy Captain of the Wallarah Rural Fire Brigade.
Some residents near the fire have been preparing to evacuate.
Debbie Frew was driving out of a roadblock along Donnelly Road near Arcadia Vale, after checking on her 84-year-old mother, Virginia Vidler.
"We've got a bag packed at the front door for her, and she has an alarm around her neck, ready, if she wants to leave", Debbie Frew said.
The NSW Rural Fire Service had the blaze listed at a 'Watch and Act' level at one stage during the night on its 'Fires Near Me' page.
By mid afternoon, the fire was listed at 'Advice' level, but its status remained 'out of control', and it had burnt about 148 hectares.
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