Reinforcements from across border help slow mega-blaze

A major bushfire continues to burn close to the NT outback town of Tennant Creek. (PR HANDOUT IMAGE PHOTO)

The smoke is clearing in a remote Northern Territory town as firefighters regain some control of a massive blaze looming on its outskirts.

The Barkly Complex blaze has been burning for more than a week and inched closer to Tennant Creek's 3000 residents on Wednesday when it broke a number of containment lines.

South Australian water bombers and fire crews arrived in Tennant Creek on Thursday morning to help contain the 10,000 sq km fire.

Incident controller Tony Fuller said breaches in the fire breaks had been contained.

"There is some increased fire activity this morning as the winds fan the fire, however at this time the fire is still within the containment lines," he said on Thursday.

"The main focus is to maintain the western flank from impacting Tennant Creek."

The fire is about 30km from the town, a similar distance to Wednesday.

Mr Fuller said authorities were growing weary after the week-long effort and were looking forward to the South Australian reinforcements.

"We're really mindful about the fatigue of our staff and we've been rotating them through as much as possible," he said on Wednesday.

"But they're travelling pretty good. They've got blisters and sore backs from driving around in Land Cruisers, but they're good."

More than 90 different staff are stationed at the fire from multiple NT agencies, including 13 of the 35 permanent Bushfire NT staff.

"That's a massive commitment to this fire," Mr Fuller said.

Winds of up to 50 km/h sent the mega-blaze speeding towards Tennant Creek on Wednesday evening.

"If we had another 150 people we still wouldn't be able to be everywhere on that fire line," Mr Fuller said.

Police did clear an outstation as the fire burnt to about 30km of the town.

At a community information session on Tuesday, residents raised concerns for family members living in remote areas and authorities vowed to follow them up.

Mr Fuller could not confirm on Wednesday whether those people had been warned about the ongoing threat.

The Barkly Highway has been intermittently closed since the blaze began last Wednesday and winds could also prompt the closure of the Stuart Highway.

The massive blaze marks the start of a long and worrying fire season in the NT, as heavy rains over the past two years created perfect fuel conditions.

More than 20 firefighters were also fighting a blaze in Gregory National Park, south of Darwin.

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