Cooler weather conditions mean firefighters and private landholders are conducting vital hazard reduction burns to reduce fuel loads in order to protect homes and businesses from fire.

NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the prescribed burns in the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury regions was scheduled to commence Friday and run across the weekend.

Smoke from this burn is expected to drift across the greater Sydney metropolitan area and the Blue Mountains.

“The State Forest West burn at Colo Heights on Saturday and Sunday will reduce high fuel loads across 2000 hectares, giving firefighters a better chance of saving lives and containing a bushfire before it can spread too far,” Commissioner Fitzsimmons said.

“In order to minimise the impact of smoke on Sydney and the western suburbs, firefighters will use lighting strategies to control the amount of fire and smoke produced.

“These burns are planned well in advance and a number of factors, including current weather conditions and forecast changes, are monitored right up to the moment burns are lit and if the prescription is not right, the activity will be amended or postponed.”

Members of the public are reminded that they should only call triple-0 if they see a fire without a fire truck in attendance.

People in smoke affected areas should avoid outdoor activity, close doors and windows, keep pets in a protected area, remove washing from clotheslines and, if driving, slow down and turn on headlights.

Asthmatics and people with respiratory or heart conditions should take appropriate precautions, follow treatment and management plans and keep their medication on hand.

Commissioner Fitzsimmons said it was important to take advantage of every hazard reduction opportunity as wet weather and unfavourable conditions resulted in the postponement of a number of controlled burns across the state last year.

A total of 121,466 hectares were treated in autumn and winter 2017, protecting 36,317 properties, compared to 226,500 hectares treated and 46,288 properties protected in autumn and winter 2016.

A full list of scheduled hazard reduction burns for the coming week is available online.

Further hazard reduction burns will be conducted in: Hornsby, the Northern Beaches, Sutherland and the Southern Highlands.