Crucial work on 'last line of defence' under way ahead of NSW bushfire season

Fire trails are often the last line of defence to protect communities from raging bushfires.

But with much of the NSW network damaged by bad weather, the government has enlisted some help from above to fix the vital tracks.

Helicopters fly over to survey the fire trails.

READ MORE: Married couple found not guilty of murdering missing teenager Amber Haigh

"What it involves is inspecting each trail, doing a condition rating and passing that info on to the bushfire management committees and to our staff," Crowd Lands worker Paula Gilchrist said.

That data is shared with the soil conservation service and the Rural Fire Service, where they get to work on the ground.

The strategic fire-fighting tracks are cleared and upgraded.

"It's really critical these trails are ready to go when fire trucks need to get in there to protect lives and local communities," Crown Lands bushfire manager George Schneider said.

Years of heavy rain and storms have taken their toll on the network.

READ MORE: Multiple men charged over alleged organised crime network in Sydney

"Not only have a lot of the fire trails washed out, with erosion, there's also been a lot of vegetation growth," Schneider said.

The job to maintain them is never ending.

"With 30,000 kms of trails, you've got more fire trails than you've got tar roads in the road network here in NSW," NSW RFS deputy commissioner Peter McKechnie said.

With so much ground to cover, being in the sky is the most efficient way to get this work done as it would take ground crews months to inspect these trails.

Using a helicopter, they can do that in just weeks and every second counts with bushfire season just weeks away.

"That's why we time our inspections to September or October, it gives us enough time to get out and clear the trails ahead of the bushfire danger periods," Gilchrist said.