NSW firefighters are struggling against a large bushfire in the Blue Mountains as they try to save homes in an area where almost 200 properties have already been destroyed.
Authorities have assessed 95 per cent of the affected area at Springwood and Winmalee, confirming 192 properties have been destroyed and another 109 damaged.
Explosives training may have caused Lithgow bushfire
As it happened: NSW bushfire emergency Day 3
The Rural Fire Service (RFS) warns the number of damaged or destroyed properties may rise.
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A hospital at Springwood was on Saturday evacuated ahead of an expected worsening in conditions on Sunday, with temperatures in the low 30s expected for parts of NSW.
Patients were taken to the Nepean Hospital in Penrith and are expected to stay there until at least Wednesday.
Firefighters had hoped calmer and cooler temperatures on Saturday would help control fires across the state, but blazes in and around the Blue Mountains have flared up.
Two emergency warnings, the highest level of alert, were issued by the RFS on Saturday.
One was for a fire at Lithgow covering more than 32,600 hectares and the other for about 2150 hectares at Springwood.
Roads have been closed in both areas.
Fire caused about $4 million damage to the Blue Mountains' historic Zig Zag Railway, which was close to reopening after being closed in June last year for safety upgrades.
Ten carriages, accommodation carriages, historic sleeping carriages, a meeting room, workshop, office and sleepers are among the items damaged.
Elsewhere, crews have been redirected from back-burning operations to protect more than 100 homes near Lithgow in Bell, Dargan, Berambing and Bilpin that were now under threat, RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said.
"This fire is by no means contained," Mr Rogers said.
The RFS advises people in the area to seek shelter.
Mr Rogers described conditions as "okay", but said it would likely warm up on Sunday and winds could strengthen on Monday.
No reprieve is expected until at least Tuesday, when showers may fall across the central and southern coasts.
Meanwhile, the defence department is investigating whether there's a link between the Lithgow fire and an explosives training exercise at the Marrangaroo training area on Wednesday.
An RFS spokesman told AAP there were no fire bans in place during the training exercise and that it occurred a day before extreme conditions were expected.
Premier Barry O'Farrell said "there was no suggestion" that the explosives testing had sparked the blaze.
The premier also had to deal with other explosions.
While visiting the RFS command centre in Wyong, he was confronted by an angry resident who said she almost died in a bushfire due to insufficient back-burning.
"Excuse me Mr O'Farrell, I almost died on Thursday night, the reason being National Parks and Wildlife does not do perimeter burning on their property," Crangan Bay resident Sandra Kay said.
Mr O'Farrell said he would take her concerns to the local council and to parliament.
On the Central Coast, firies were drinking for free after managing to save the much-loved "Catho pub" at Catherine Hill Bay.
No one was injured, but an historic home was lost when a bushfire hit the town on Friday.
"It's beers all round. I've told the RFS that the beers are on me today," publican Dean Beevor said.
The Salvation Army is asking for people to donate cash, rather than goods, to its bushfire appeal. More than $300,000 dollars has already been raised.
