Firefighters battle an out of control bushfire on the Lakes Way, Darawank, near Forster on the NSW mid north coast.
© Nathan EdwardsFirefighters battle an out of control bushfire on the Lakes Way, Darawank, near Forster on the NSW mid north coast.
At least one home has been lost after multiple bushfires threatened towns on the New South Wales mid-north coast.

The bushfire is easing NSW but it could be a torrid day in Queensland which is still seeing torrid conditions.

One blaze west of Tuncurry, near Forster, jumped a river on Saturday and began spotting across the township that is home to 6000 people.

Less than 10 kilometres further north, another blaze led to emergency warnings for Hallidays Point and Darawank.

Both fires were being fanned north overnight.



Andrew O'Sullivan, whose five-acre property on the edge of the Tuncurry township is covered in now-charred rainforest, said cabbage tree palms had been exploding and the heat of the fire "literally melted the pots off the plants" in a nearby nursery.

"It looks like Armageddon," he told AAP on Saturday.

"We had it on four sides. I've never gone through this before and I never want to again."

Photographer Shane Chalker said his family evacuated but he stayed behind to put out spot fires.

"A friend was here helping me, hosing the roof," he told AAP. Tuncurry resident Sue said her property was "being rained on with charcoal and debris".

Taree Golf Club and the Tuncurry Beach Bowling Club are serving as an evacuation centres.

Those in regional NSW are advised to download the Fires Near Me app to stay up to date with fire warnings in their area.

"Conditions are expected to ease but it's still cause for concern," an NSW Rural Fire Service spokesman told AAP late on Saturday.

Electricity to some 20,000 homes in the area was also cut due to the fire threat.

Total fire bans will be in place on Sunday for the Greater Hunter, New England and the Northern Slopes.

That includes Newcastle, Cessnock, Tamworth and Armidale.

The Central Ranges, the Illawarra/Shoalhaven area and the North Western fire districts will also be at a very high fire risk.

The RFS said it received reports of damaged or destroyed properties on the 90-odd fireground across the state on Saturday.

More than 1600 firefighters, including those in 75 aircraft, battled blazes on Saturday.


Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said the dry, hot and windy conditions had meant fires across NSW were doing extraordinary things usually reserved for summer. "It's horrendous," he told ABC.

"Some of these fires we've been dealing with for two months now, we're still in this really tough drought, it's very warm dry and windy conditions. "So it's the worst conditions for firefighters and the fires are doing some extraordinary things that you would expect in the heat of summer." Embers from the Tuncurry blaze travelled kilometres ahead of the forefront, creating spot fires in suburban backyards and the headland at Forster main beach.