Enid Connors thought she had given herself plenty of time to fix the two water pumps at her Clarence Valley home in northern NSW before the fire season arrived.
But this week she found herself carting buckets of water uphill to her house as smoke from an out-of-control bushfire in Ramornie, near Grafton, blanketed her property.
A watch and act warning has been reissued for the area after moderate winds inflamed the blaze.
It's burnt through about 400 hectares since Wednesday afternoon and was heading towards the Ramornie town centre on Thursday afternoon.
The NSW Rural Fire Service says erratic winds are putting increasing pressure on firefighters trying to build containment lines.
"It's not good," Ms Connors, who owns Casuarina Parrot Gardens, told AAP.
She's concerned about her birds. A neighbour has brought her dogs and cats into the house.
"Which is what you'd do, I suppose, but I don't know how I'll fit 500 birds in here.
"I've been seriously thinking about it."
Ms Connors has employees who help out in the morning but otherwise lives alone.
She says if the fire comes her way she'll stay and seek shelter in the pool.
"It's certainly scary," she said.
More than 80 fires are burning along the Great Dividing Range in NSW. A strong wind warning was in place for the Illawarra and Eden Coast on Thursday afternoon.
A watch and act warning has been issued for residents in Ellangowan, near the Queensland border, while major fires in the Blue Mountains, Bega Valley, Mount Kingiman and North Nowra were downgraded to advice level overnight.
A spokesman for Bega Valley Shire Council said the fire at Bemboka was mainly burning through national park, and fire crews were hampered by the difficult, rough and dry terrain.
"It's going to be a few weeks before a fire that large is completely put out," he said.
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