44C as fires scorch NSW coast

Homes were destroyed and hundreds of people evacuated north of Sydney last night as seven major bushfires burned out of control.

And Sky News reported this morning that a St John volunteer ambulance officer had died while helping victims of the fires. 

More than 600 firefighters battled flames up to 30m high, as temperatures soared to 44C in the main fire zone around Gosford, 60km north of Sydney.

Early this morning a strong southerly change brought relief from the heat but also pushed three separate fronts around Gosford into a single, bigger fire.

The Fire Service was preparing for the wind change to send the fires directly towards the Gosford suburb of Kariong, north of Woy Woy.

Firefighters were helping Kariong residents hose down their houses and advising them to prepare to evacuate.

"The smoke has turned orange over the Correa Bay, and the south-westerly is gusting very strongly now," said a Woy Woy woman who did not want to be named.

The south-westerlies were expected to blow through the area in two hours.

Late last night the woman said that smoke and flames were visible along the top of the ridge, which runs behind the Woy Woy bays.

The gusty southerly started sweeping through "hard and fast" from the south west just after 10pm, she said.

"There's a very potent smell all around my house and I've got the windows closed tight," she said.

The Fire Service's chief, Commissioner Phil Koperberg said the winds would make the fire "out of control, and we won't be able to control it until [this morning]".

That water-bombing had to be ceased at dusk was a problem, he said.

He said firefighters had been reduced to protecting people's homes.

Thousands of firefighters were battling other blazes across New South Wales, with homes evacuated at Merimbula, on the far south coast, and fires at Newcastle and Junee. A total of 44 fires were burning across the state.

SkyNews reported that five properties have been gutted in Junee, and one man suffered critical burns to 60 per cent of his body. Residents had also been evacuated from nearby Illabo.

Many parts of Sydney and the Central Coast were also experiencing blackouts, with scorching temperatures overtaxing the energy grid.

The fires were also reported to have destroyed three homes, seven cars, several fire trucks and a fire station.

Part of the F3 freeway was closed, reopened and later closed again as firefighters feared southerly winds could push the fire towards the road.

Earlier, Rural Fire Service spokeswoman Rebel Talbert said one home was destroyed at Phegan's Bay, and there were unconfirmed reports of several other homes and vehicles alight in the Woy Woy area.

Volunteer firefighter Michael Wood said about 50 homes were in the path of a fire at Woy Woy and people were evacuating their homes.

The woman at Woy Woy said: "There's ash on my balcony. If I get sparks on my balcony, I'll evacuate."

A stretch of water separated her from the fires around Phegan's Bay, about 1km away. "That's pretty scary. Put it this way: I'm thinking about where the family photo albums are and where all my money is.

"I can see three fires from here. I went down to the bay about 2.30pm, and by then the fire was huge. I could see houses on fire, and my neighbour said he could see houses on fire just a minute ago [at 5.30pm]."

She said many residents had fled the fire-hit side of her peninsula in their boats, arriving at a jetty "carrying babies and bags".

Dozens of evacuees were spending the night at the Woy Woy Indoor Bowls and Gosford Leagues clubs.

The fires had turned the daylight yellow.

The woman said she had lived in Woy Woy for five years and though the area was fire-prone, "we've had nothing like this before".

"The smoke is thick enough that the other side of my street is hazy. [The fires are] not getting any better and it could get a lot worse."

Homes were also threatened at Umina, where 30 fire trucks battled the blaze, with aircraft and a sky crane.

The bushfires came despite the Fire Service declaring states of emergency across much of New South Wales, including large parts of Sydney, in a move aimed at mobilising firefighters before possible flare-ups.

Mr Koperberg, said it was the first time pre-emptive action had been taken on such a large scale in New South Wales. "If new fires do break out today they will be extremely difficult for our firefighters to control and with these conditions, we require the quickest response possible from both the ground and air."

Weather conditions had changed favourably in neighbouring Victoria last night. Heavy rain helped firefighters battling a bushfire that destroyed seven homes and burned 9000ha of bush and private land.

The Victoria fire, which started on Saturday afternoon, had not quite reached the town of Stawell, 240km west of Melbourne, although it destroyed houses on the outskirts.

More than 500 people fought it through Saturday night using five helicopters, two fixed-wing aircraft and "Elvis", the air crane that battled fires in the state's northeast in 2003.

Two firefighters received minor injuries after falling down mineshafts while fighting the fires near Stawell.

There is a fire ban in the ACT as temperatures edge towards 38C and strong, hot winds provide ideal conditions for bushfires.

- Derek Cheng, AGENCIES