A 51-year-old man has been charged after allegedly lighting a fire at Ebor, 80 kilometres north-east of Armidale, in a backburning attempt to protect a cannabis crop.

Key points: The Gospers Mountain fire on the outskirts of north-west Sydney has claimed one home

The Gospers Mountain fire on the outskirts of north-west Sydney has claimed one home The Rural Fire Service said 1.5 million hectares had been burnt over this fire season so far

The Rural Fire Service said 1.5 million hectares had been burnt over this fire season so far Cooler conditions will continue over the weekend before riskier weather returns next week

The fire, allegedly lit on Thursday, is still burning out of control on the NSW Northern Tablelands. It has burnt through more than 5,400 hectares.

The man, named as Gavin James Gardiner, was arrested on Friday afternoon and charged with intentionally causing a fire.

He was refused bail after appearing in Armidale Local Court and is due to face court again on Monday.

Inspector Ben Shepherd from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service said the RFS had been warning people about fire risks since the start of the bushfire season.

"We know that there's been an increase of sentencing and non-parole periods, so hopefully that gentleman will receive the harshest of penalties, because we know that fires in this landscape at the moment are unfortunately destroying lives and destroying homes," he said.

Separately, another man has been charged with intimidating RFS volunteers.

On Friday, a 32-year-old man allegedly threatened a 64-year-old volunteer with a chainsaw at a property in Elands, north-west of Taree, before lighting a fire and then threatening two other volunteers who attended.

He faces multiple charges, including common assault, and was refused bail to appear in court at Port Macquarie on Saturday.

On Thursday, a 44-year-old man was charged after allegedly intimidating two RFS volunteers at a property in Elands.

Colo Heights home destroyed in Gospers Mountain fire

At the height of Friday's hot and windy weather, four emergency-level fires were declared statewide, with three in northern NSW.

The fire closest to Sydney, the Gospers Mountain fire, was downgraded to a watch and act after several hours, with firefighters working on property protection on Sydney's north-west outskirts.

The Gospers Mountain fire, about 40 kilometres north of Richmond, spread across more than 85,000 hectares and claimed one home yesterday afternoon, at a remote property on Putty Road at Colo Heights.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 55 seconds 55 s Colo Heights home destroyed by bushfire on Friday

The home belonged to the Morris family.

Daughter Georgia Whitaker told the ABC that while her father Bill Morris escaped, the house was full of memories of her mum, Elaine Thatcher, who died three weeks ago of ovarian cancer.

"It meant everything to us … literally the only memories we had left of [our mum] were in that house.

"We hadn't had a chance to go back through there. Her little trinkets and the things that were special towards her, it's just all gone."

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 23 seconds 1 m 23 s Family lose property in fire three weeks after mother dies of cancer

"Mum and Dad had that property for over 30 years and we all grew up there," daughter Matilda Morris added.

"The house itself had no value. It was all sentimental."

When asked how their father was coping with the loss of his wife and home, Ms Whitaker said: "He's been such a rock … not just for the last three weeks since Mum passed, but for the last two years since she was diagnosed.

"This is just like a real kick in the guts while you're down."

1.5 million hectares burnt this bushfire season

Four fire bans remain across areas of New South Wales as tamer conditions look to be offering firefighters some respite for at least this weekend.

The bans are in place for the Far North Coast, the Northern Slopes, the New England area and the north-west fire region.

Cooler conditions and a southerly change have allowed firefighters to strengthen containment lines for many of the bushfires burning across the state overnight.

Hot and windy conditions are forecast to return mid next week.

Inspector Shepherd said 1.5 million hectares had been burnt during the season so far.

"We're really just stuck in this pattern at the moment where we get a couple of days of reprieve from that really hot and dangerous stuff and then we're back into it again," he said.

About 1,500 firefighters are tackling 60 fires across the state.

Inspector Shepherd said crews were able to undertake some backburning at Gospers Mountain on Friday night.

"People in that area are going to have smoke and fire activity now for a number of days, if not a number of weeks," he said.

"More than likely we won't have it under control before the onset of those warmer, windy conditions once again probably towards mid [next] week."

He said the RFS building impact assessment teams would be investigating the extent of the damage to homes and structures on the fireground.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 20 seconds 1 m 20 s Blaze threatening homes north of Sydney

Firefighters continue to battle the Myall Creek Road fire, near Casino, which has destroyed at least six homes.

Northern Rivers RFS Superintendent Michael Brett said efforts had been hampered by up to three incidents of landholders doing their own backburning.

He said it was being done despite the total fire ban and had severe consequences, including diverting already stretched crews away from the main fire front.

"I appreciate that people want to light fires to protect their homes, but by doing so they're placing themselves and our resources and the community at further risk," he said.

The incidents are being investigated by police.