NSW mayor welcomes defence bushfire help

The mayor of a NSW town hit by bushfire says residents will welcome the army's offer to help with the recovery from the fire it started.

Defence has apologised after admitting to sparking the State Mine fire, which struck the town of Lithgow and destroyed 50,000 hectares of bushland and three houses, during an explosives training exercise on army land.

It has reportedly offered 270 personnel to the fire-ravaged region west of Sydney, plus helicopters, engineers and trucks.

Lithgow Mayor Maree Statham says discussions with a senior official at Glenbrook defence depot about a possible partnership with the council and Rural Fire Service are at an early stage.

Having defence personnel support would be "absolutely wonderful", she said, despite army ordinance being found to have started the blaze.

"It's a very difficult situation and playing the blame game is not going to fix the problem," she told AAP.

"They've apologised ... and it was obviously an accident."

She said a top priority would be the Zig Zag Railway, a local tourist attraction that had been set to reopen just before the fire.

Bushfire recovery coordinator Phil Koperberg met with defence and Emergency Management Australia about the offer on Tuesday.

The meeting identified a number of tasks that defence could help with, including making areas safe where burnt trees were at risk of falling.

"We are however very conscious of the need to protect the role of private contractors, because up here, they've suffered as well," he told AAP.

Mr Koperberg said a recommendation would be made to the state government, which would decide whether to accept the defence offer.

The Defence Department has confirmed an offer has been made but would not divulge the details.

"Defence has extended an offer of assistance to the Emergency Recovery Coordinator," it said in a statement to AAP on Tuesday.

"The details of any Defence support are yet to be determined."