Firestorm destroys NSW communities as hundreds of homes could be lost

FIREFIGHTERS continue to battle bushfires on several NSW fronts, with hundreds of homes feared destroyed by the blazes.

FIREFIGHTERS continue to battle bushfires on several fronts in NSW, with hundreds of homes feared destroyed and thousands of residents evacuated.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said about 100 fires were currently burning, 36 of them uncontained - including a fire at Nords Wharf and Murrays Beach, south of Newcastle.

He said despite the cooler and more humid conditions, the fire situation is still “very active, very dynamic, very dangerous”.

Emergency warnings remain in place for fires on the NSW Central Coast and at Springwood in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, where up to 30 homes were known to be lost.

Mr Fitzsimmons says the seven largest fires have so far burnt 50,000 hectares and there's a 400km fire perimeter.

Out-of-control blazes raged to the north, south and west of Sydney yesterday, as cyclonic winds, high temperatures and dry undergrowth created a "perfect storm" for bushfires.

Extreme conditions had been predicted but the various firefronts took hold with alarming speed, prompting chaos and confusion as schools in the Blue Mountains, were evacuated at short notice and residents rushed home to try to locate loved ones, defend their properties or grab precious possessions before the flames bore down on them

Hundreds of people spent the night in evacuation centres.

The Rural Fire Service early this morning said homes were under threat on Government Rd, at Nords Wharf, but residents were told it was too late to leave and they should seek shelter.

GALLERY: The NSW bushfires

No fatalities were reported yesterday, but NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, wary that many torched properties were yet to be checked by authorities, issued an ominous warning.

"If by this time tomorrow we haven't lost a soul, it will be a miracle," Mr Scipione said.

A major fire at Lithgow, 150km northwest of Sydney, is now heading in the direction of Bilpin and Mountain Lagoon in the Blue Mountains. An emergency warning remains in place for the district.

BUSHFIRE MAP: NSW Rural Fire Service current incident updates

Residents have been advised to leave now if it is safe to do so.

"Only well prepared and actively defended homes can offer safety. If you plan to leave, or you are not prepared and there is a safer place nearby, leave now if it is safe to do so," Mr Fitzsimmons said.

More than 1500 firefighters have been battling the blazes which started in hot and windy conditions yesterday afternoon.

Mr Fitzsimmons said conditions would be much better for firefighters today.

"It will be a much more favourable day than yesterday. We're going to see conditions considerably cooler and humidity will be much higher,'' he said.

"We're not going to expect that hot and dry conditions we saw yesterday.''

Warnings were also in place last night for the Blue Mountains townships of Springwood and Winmalee; at Doyalson on the central coast; at Balmoral, Yanderra and Bargo in the Southern Highlands; at Heatherbrae, near Newcastle; and at Wandandian on the south coast. The threat to properties from a large fire near Muswellbrook was subsiding last night.

Mr Fitzsimmons said it had been a "very difficult and dangerous day" of "extraordinary fire behaviour", with blazes travelling vast distances, fanned by the strong winds. Temperatures reached the mid-30s across Sydney and nearby areas, and the accompanying low humidity, 100km/h winds, and dry fuel loads in bushlands that have not seen significant rain for months provided the type of conditions that fire authorities dread.

"This is as bad as it gets - you're talking destructive, damaging, and people losing everything they own," he said.

A cool change early last night brought some relief to temperatures, but it also created new chaos, swinging fire fronts around and pushing blazes into new areas.

Weather conditions are milder today, but firefighters are still wary.

There have been unconfirmed reports of properties being lost at North Doyalson, on the Central Coast; at Lithgow; at Yanderra and Balmoral, in the Southern Highlands; and in Port Stephens, where a fire has forced the closure of Newcastle Airport.

Authorities expect the number of destroyed or damaged properties across the state will be much worse and fear lives may be lost.

Among those to lose their homes in Winmalee was Susan Templeman, Labor's candidate for the Blue Mountains seat of Macquarie at last month's election, frontbencher Doug Cameron said last night.

There were reports last night of dozens of homes lost in Mount Victoria, at the western end of the Blue Mountains.

In the Springwood area, the firefront descended so quickly that fire crews were not able to reach many of the affected homes before they were well alight. NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers described the conditions as "a nightmare" for firefighters, and speculated that several hundred homes might have been destroyed.

"It's probably the most serious fire risk we've faced (in NSW) since the early 2000s," Mr Rogers told ABC radio.

"If we come out of this day without losing hundreds of homes, we'll be very lucky."

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said he expected hundreds of homes would have been lost.

"We are unclear yet as to how many properties have been lost, but it's expected by the time we finish counting, it will be at least in the hundreds," Mr O'Farrell said.

With low humidity and no rain forecast for the next three days, authorities are warning that dangerous bushfire conditions could continue over the weekend, ahead of a likely reprieve early next week.

More than 100 bushfires were reported across NSW yesterday. About 2000 firefighters helped battle the blazes.

Firefighters are also on their way from Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania to bolster numbers.

Some firefighters reportedly suffered injuries yesterday, including one with burns and others with smoke inhalation.

The 100km/h winds that tore through the affected regions sent a thick plume of smoke right across the Greater Sydney area, giving the city an ethereal orange glow and causing ash and embers to be dumped in Sydney Harbour and surrounding coastal suburbs.

The outbreak of bushfires follows an unusually dry winter for most of eastern Australia, and an incredibly parched early spring for NSW.

Much of Sydney and its surrounds have yet to experience any rainfall this month, and Springwood has received just 0.4mm since the beginning of this month. The average October rainfall for the Blue Mountains town is 74mm.

Sky News chief meteorologist Dick Whitaker said the Blue Mountains had received only a third of the area's normal rainfall so far this year. He said the cycle of lingering high-pressure systems, which had sat further north than usual, and the hot, dry, northwest winds associated with an approaching cold front were behind seven total fire bans placed on the greater Sydney area, which includes the Blue Mountains, since July 1. In the same period last year, greater Sydney had just one total fire ban.

Springwood resident Joe Moore was one of those to lose his home yesterday. He was on the phone to his son, a Rural Fire Service volunteer firefighter, as he was trying to protect their family home from the bushfire.

Mr Moore, a golf professional at Springwood Country Club, said the gusty winds contributed to the "perfect storm".

"You have fires up here all your life and we haven't lost a lot but the fires and the winds have always been favourable," he said.

"It's one of those things: if you want to live up in the Blue Mountains . . . it's a beautiful place to live but it has the dangers of nature's ferocity like we had today."

Mr Scipione said last night that there was no evidence that any of the major blazes had been deliberately lit.

So far 88,200.65 hectares of land have been burnt.

Numerous schools are closed today.

Additional reporting: Malcolm Holland, AAP

For more information on the NSW fires please call 1800 679 737, follow @NSWRFS on Twitter or check the NSW Rural Fire Service Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/nswrfs