Man charged with deliberately lighting NSW bushfire

Emergency workers help residents leave homes as smoke from the Nowra fire blankets the area

A total fire ban was issued for Sydney, the Illawarra and Hunter regions on Wednesday - something not seen so early in the season in almost a decade.

The NSW Rural Fire Service has completed the first stage of property assessments following the fire, which has burnt through more than 3,300 hectares and is still out of control.

A fire burning out of control north of Bemboka.

Watch-and-act messages were issued for fires in the Blue Mountains, Richmond Valley, Clarence Valley, Bega Valley, Mount Kingiman and North Nowra.

NSW RFS Inspector Ben Shepherd said the Ulladulla region fire had "whipped up unbelievably quick" on Wednesday morning under the strong gusts.

Mr Webster said firefighters were using a "window of opportunity" to backburn ahead of deteriorating conditions on Saturday.

A 300-hectare fire burns out of control at Bemboka.

She says if the fire comes her way she'll stay and seek shelter in the pool.

Any easing of conditions is likely to be short-lived, with temperatures and wind whipping up again on Saturday.

"It'll be days and days to try and get containment of both of those fires", he said.

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In recent days, the ailing star had been visited by Stevie Wonder, the Rev Jesse Jackson and her ex-husband, actor Glynn Turman . Franklin won 18 Grammy awards. "This will be my previous year ", Franklin said in an interview with a local Detroit TV station .

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Residents near the fire were seen covering their faces in a bid to escape the smoke that were rising above their homes.

On Wednesday, RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said firefighters were anxious the milder conditions would not last long.

"It is a really early start to these severe fires, and it's only really been three months since the last serious fire we had, which was in April".

"It's certainly scary", she said.

Very high fire danger warnings are on Thursday in place for the New England, Northern Slopes and Far North Coast regions of the state.

Queenslanders are being warned to prepare for bushfires as the weekend approaches, with the threat forecast to be high and very high in most of the state.

NSW rural fire service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said the fires at Bega and Ulladulla were "quite big" and would stay uncontained for "some time".

Conditions in NSW are dry - last week 100 per cent of the state was declared either "in drought" or "drought affected".

RFS Building Impact Assessment Teams confirmed one house was damaged in a separate bushfire at North Nowra, where one outbuilding was destroyed and another was damaged.

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