Fires have destroyed property, closed roads and forced evacuations on a hot and windy day in NSW.
In the Hunter region, a mother and daughter were rescued by helicopter as numerous fires broke out, with two serious fires merging to create a 650ha blaze, which threatened homes on Wednesday .
The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) has received unconfirmed reports of properties being destroyed.
The young mother and her daughter were flown to Cessnock airport after the Kurri Kurri property they were on was hit by the fire.
"The fire was impacting upon the property and when the helicopter flew over they were waved down by a number of people," RFS assistant commissioner Rebel Talbert told AAP after the fire was downgraded to watch and act on Wednesday evening.
"There were two other people who remained on the property to try and defend the house and shed from the fire."
More than 250 firefighters continue to battle the northwest-moving fire, burning near Hart Road, McLeod Road, and the Hunter Expressway which was reopened early Wednesday evening.
The crews, including extra hands from Sydney and the Central Coast, have been assisted by waterbombing aircraft.
One southbound lane of the M1 Pacific Motorway was closed until early evening between Holmesville and Cameron Park, north of where a fire burns out of control at Barnsley.
All emergency warnings across the state, including the one at Kurri Kurri, had been downgraded by sunset.
Near the ACT border, a large fire that destroyed at least one country homestead and forced livestock to be moved, was in the process of being controlled after burning through Tuesday night.
The 3290 hectare fire has burnt the vicinity of Taylors Creek Road, Bungendore Rd and Mount Fairy Road.
The blaze burnt through Kevin Williamson's 160ha farm near Mount Fairy.
He was forced to put down 20 of his lambs and was moving 60 others, which survived, to a paddock outside the danger zone.
"I wasn't there when it came through. It happened so quickly, I couldn't get to the sheep," he told AAP.
Also in the Southern Ranges, 500 hectares were burnt by a fire around Mulligans Flat Rd, Sutton.
The region had been subject to an extreme danger warning on Wednesday.
Watch and Act warnings were issued for two other fires in Stubbo and Parkes.
Isolated rural properties were under threat from fire at Staircase Rd, Parkes the RFS said on Wednesday night.
