Grass fires near Woolworths distribution centre Minchinbury, Colyton

Firefighters are battling a grass fire next to the Woolworths distribution centre at Minchinbury, north of the M4.

A grass fire broke out near the Woolworths distribution centre at Minchinbury. Picture: Google Maps

Firefighters are battling a grass fire next to the Woolworths distribution centre at Minchinbury near the M4.

The fire is at Sargents Rd to the north of the motorway between Carlisle Ave and Roper Rd.

Multiple triple-0 calls were received shortly before 11.30am on Monday and seven fire trucks with 28 firefighters – including crews from Huntingwood and St Marys – responded to the fire which shut down the M4 in both directions.

A Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman said a truck and power pole were damaged but no injuries had been reported.

City of Sydney personnel were deployed to the western suburbs with the total fire ban in place.

Fire and Rescue NSW imposed a total fire ban across Greater Sydney and the Illawarra-Shoalhaven areas, with hot, dry and windy conditions posing “extreme fire danger”.

The spokesman said firefighters were also responding to a fire burning at Roper Rd, Colyton, about 1.30pm.

Diversions are in place via Mamre Rd and the Great Western Highway.

Motorists have been advised smoke might affect visibility.

Meanwhile, Rural Fire Service crews rushed to Springwood Rd in Yarramundi, in the Hawkesbury, just after 12pm.

Authorities said a grass fire, which broke out and spread to both sides of the road, was moving in an easterly direction toward the Nepean River.

The alert level was initially for residents “watch and act” because of the fire’s proximity to several properties, including the YMCA camp, but it has since been downgraded to “advice” with there being no imminent threat.

An RFS spokesman said police had evacuated students from the camp to YMCA Penrith as precaution, but there had been “no direct threat”.

“The fire was moving in the opposite direction of the camp, but I think, out of safety, they did that,” the spokesman said.

The incident required 30 RFS personnel to fight the blaze before it was finally contained about 2pm.

Meanwhile, thousands are without power due to the wild winds wreaking havoc on power lines across the state.

An Endeavour Energy spokeswoman said up to 39,000 customers were currently without power across Greater Western Sydney, the Blue Mountains and down to the Illawarra and Southern Highlands.

More than 7000 homes and businesses in the state’s south across Mittagong, Moss Vale, Hilltop and Balmoral were without power on Monday afternoon.

Among the areas hardest hit in the Blue Mountains were the towns Blackheath and Winnmalee, where more than 4000 customers remained disconnected just after 3pm.

Restoration efforts were expected to take longer than usual, due to a total fire ban limiting how power could be safely restored without the risk of sparking a bushfire.

It is understood that due to the total fire ban in place, each outage would have to be inspected by ground crew as opposed to being automatically re-connected to energy networks.