Firefighters have been banned from travelling from Sydney and surrounds to Albury due to coronavirus fears, but the decision is being challenged in court.
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Concerns have been raised with The Border Mail about new relief firefighters being sent to Albury.
The Fire Brigade Employees Union recently issued a ban on such movements, which was challenged in the Industrial Relations Commission on Wednesday and on Tuesday.
State secretary Leighton Drury said the union was "really trying to limit the number of fire station visitors", with concerns a positive test could force a station to isolate for two weeks.
"This is purely about the health and safety of firefighters and their families," he said.
"If there was a flare up at a station, that's it, we'd lose a platoon of permanent firefighters and half a dozen retained members for 14 days."
The Albury region is being treated as a "bubble".
The measures were taken amid coronavirus flare-ups at other locations.
A Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman said strategies were in place to deal with the pandemic.
"To protect staff against COVID-19, FRNSW has implemented additional hygiene and decontamination practices as well as increasing PPE measures for frontline staff," the spokesman said.
"This includes regular video updates, emails and documentation.
"FRNSW also assists with contact tracing in accordance with SafeWork NSW and NSW Health guidelines should it be required.
"FRNSW has legislative responsibilities to maintain fire protection and community safety.
"With all of these measures put in place across the organisation, FRNSW believes the threat to public safety by maintaining operational capability is low."
