Fire and Rescue NSW Dubbo station officer Mick Medlin said firefighters were called to the building fire on Coakers Road in Terramungamine after neighbours head an explosion at about 3pm.  

When firefighters arrived they found a large hay shed containing 500 hay bales and a tractor engulfed in flames.

Mr Medlin said it was an intense fire but no other property or buildings were threatened.

He said about six Rural Fire Service and two Fire and Rescue appliances worked for 1.5 hours to control the blaze before making the decision to let it continue to burn under controlled conditions.

“The shed was fully loaded with hay and the structure of the shed was compromised from the heat of the fire, therefore it was deemed that without a large excavator it would be too dangerous for firefighters to complete the extinguish,” Mr Medlin said.

Given the mild conditions and forecast for heavy rain, firefighters were confident they could let the now contained fire burn itself out.

“This poor farmer has been borrowing hay, it’s quite devastating for him to have a fully laded hay shed go up in flames I imagine it would be quite expensive and quite a headache before Christmas,” Mr Medlin said. 

Orana Rural Fire Service district service coordinator Mark Pickford said the fire was expected to continue burning until Thursday.

“Crews monitored the fire throughout Tuesday night and on Wednesday and will continue to do so,” Mr Pickford said. 

Trucks from Narromine, Dubbo and Wellington were being used to control the fire on Wednesday.

“The breeze is blowing and it was still burning quite fiercely with two trucks out there monitoring it,” Mr Pickford said.  

The cause is still being investigated by the Rural Fire Service and police but it was not believed to be suspicious.