Tamworth, Narrabri and Glen Innes using drones or Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems to fight series of housefires

The game-changing aerial cameras, or drones, have been deployed within minutes from places like Tamworth, Narrabri and Glen Innes to battle a series of housefires across the towns.

The three towns are the first in the region to operate the new Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, or RPAS as local firies call them.

They could prove invaluable as the colder months continue, with fire crews revealing on Tuesday this year was the "worst year on record for fire fatalities" in NSW.

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Zone Commander Acting Superintendent Peter Nugent told the Leader the RPAS units were game-changing and all three units had used them.

"You cannot overstate the value of this equipment," he said.

"In Narrabri, we have those units in our Hazmat sprinter van, so we can dispatch that within minutes and have that out and running in the zone very quickly.

"You can fly over and see what the roof is doing, and if it's structurally about to collapse, whether we think it's going to move.

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"In grassfires, we can go overhead and see the fire behaviour and where the front is moving and see more than line of sight, even at an chemical spill, we can see the true picture from above."

The cameras - which crews undertook a week of training and are now certified by CASA - also have thermal imaging and can identify hot spots, beaming back to base in real-time.

Firefighters in Narrabri deployed the RPAS after a huge blaze broke out in a Fraser Street home on Friday night.

Battling strong winds, and a second home under threat of ember attack, the fire had engulfed the second story of the home preventing fire crews from gaining access.

Firefighters deployed the RPAS to find the hot spots to knock them down and save the neighbouring house, ending a six-hour intense firefight.

Meanwhile, in Glen Innes, a man was taken to hospital with burns to his hands after he was injured in a blaze on Sunday night.

Crews rushed to the Railway Parade home to find a blaze in the living room, but they managed to confine the fire, with smoke and heat damaging the rest of the house.

Acting Superintendent Nugent said the rate of housefires across the New England North West had been "a few more than normal", but not an alarming spike.

"We're really pushing hard on our home fire safety visits, where we can go out and help people ensure they have working smoke alarms and check them," he said.

He said the RPAS equipment came out of the inquiry into the deadly bushfires in 2019-20.

Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson said the drones have laser technology that can also help to map out the size of fires.

"Each drone is connected to the FRNSW wireless and satellite communication network which will stream live to the screens of our firefighters, meaning they can make decisions quicker and act faster," he said.

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