Mr Fitzsimmons described Saturday as an "awful day" as the state faced catastrophic fire danger. Loading Just before 10pm, emergency warnings were in place for the giant Gospers Mountain fire, the Owendale fire in Singleton, the Upper Turon Road blaze in the Central West and the Currowan fire in the Shoalhaven area. The Gospers Mountain Fire, north-west of Sydney, was "extremely active and busy" in the night, especially south of the Bells Line of Road where there was significant fire spread. Mr Fitzsimmons said the Green Wattle Creek fire, south-west of Sydney, had been "very aggressive" in the afternoon and "very volatile in behaviour".

It was downgraded to "watch and act" alert level just before 9pm as rare rain fell and firefighters, who had been extinguishing spot fires, celebrated. "We have had reports of homes being damaged or destroyed in the fires near Lithgow, impacting the township of Lithgow," Mr Fitzsimmons said. Firefighter Mikaela Kremer from Glenbrook-Lapstone does a dance to celebrate the rain suddenly falling just as they were responding to spotting from Green Wattle Creek bushfire. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen He also estimated at least 10 to 20 properties were impacted around the Bells Line of Road near Bilpin, where activity was increasing on Saturday night. "We have a long night ahead for firefighters and all the communities affected by the current fires burning around NSW," Mr Fitzsimmons said.

"While the weather conditions are expected to ease [on Sunday] we still have two total fire ban areas in place, in northern NSW. As we indicated before, there remains a number of highways and arterial roads impacted and closed. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "There'll be a whole battle plan for [Sunday]," he said. "We're looking at trying to consolidate and establish containment lines across as many fire lines as we can." NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan said there had been four reports of firefighters experiencing heat exhaustion, while at Bilpin a firefighter was struck by a vehicle while battling the blaze in heavy smoke conditions. At the peak of fire activity seven fires were burning at emergency level. There were 3000 firefighters and emergency services personnel around the state battling about 100 fires, with a gusty southerly change that passed through the state from the late afternoon making conditions difficult.

Houses in flames at Lithgow. Credit:Dean Sewell While temperatures in the Hunter region hit the mid 40s and western parts of Sydney reached tops of about 41 degrees in the early afternoon, by the evening temperatures had dropped to the 20s across the Sydney region. Strong winds hit the Illawarra and Sydney regions as the southerly moved through, with wind gusts of 100 km/h recorded at Wattamolla, and gusts of 85 km/h at Sydney Airport. A number of properties were lots in Dargan after a blaze tore through the area. Credit:Dean Sewell Motorists were also asked to delay travel as major roads including the Great Western Highway, the Princes Highway and the Hume Motorway were closed at points throughout the day.

Despite the pressure on volunteer firefighters, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the RFS should remain a volunteer organisation. "They're successful for a reason - because people want to be part of community," she said. "People want to ensure that in addition to their professional careers, that they have some way in which they can give back." Ms Berejiklian thanked businesses and other employers including government agencies that have given time off to volunteers to fight fires. In many cases that was paid leave but not across the board. Fire trucks in Buxton as the Green Wattle Creek fire approaches the town. Credit:Kate Geraghty She said she "completely understood" that many volunteers were under "prolonged stress", especially in some locations where fires have been burning since July. She said she was “most worried” about local commanders who felt they could not abandon their post to find respite.