The sound of the CH-47D Chinook is unmistakable - you usually feel the thrum in your chest long before you see the rotors.

But for residents near Glen Alice this week, that sound signalled a historic shift in how we fight fires in the west.

The NSW Rural Fire Service's monster water-bomber has successfully completed its first-ever night-time raid, deployed right here in our region to battle the Genowlan Road fire.

While the blaze burned through 220 hectares of bushland at the foot of the Blue Mountains, the Chinook roared overhead in the darkness, proving that the RFS no longer has to down tools when the sun sets.

Over a critical two-day operation, the helicopter delivered a staggering 529,000 litres of water.

Crucially, 194,800 litres of that payload were dropped across 27 sorties

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