© AAP Residents try to knock down spot fires heading towards a house on the Cross's property at Koorainghat,, part of the Hillville fire near Taree in the Mid North Coast region of NSW. Exasperated NSW Police have today caught a nine-year-old boy who deliberately lit a small grass fire using a gas blowtorch in a town south of Sydney.

Fire crews and police quickly extinguished the blaze in Worrigee, south of Wollongong, and then tracked down a boy who had been hanging out with a group of other children.

The child was issued a warning under the Young Offenders Act.

Police have also been forced into action against three other men who have breached the state-wide ban in the last 24 hours, despite the catastrophic bush fire warnings.

© 9News Residents in North Rothbury who have been told it's too late to leave are desperately trying to protect their homes alongside stretched fire crews. On Monday afternoon, a 27-year-old man was hit with a $2200 fine after he allegedly lit a small campfire at Fowler Reserve, Wallacia, to boil water for cups of tea.

Later on Monday evening, rural fire service members were called to a home in Prestons, in Sydney's west, after a man was burning fence palings in a cylindrical barbecue.

Embers had fallen from the fire and ignited nearby palings, causing a secondary blaze.

Both fires were extinguished and police issued a 35-year-old man with an infringement notice.

© 9News Fire crews are on scene at Wine Country Drive in North Rothbury, trying to fend off the flames as they ascend on homes.

On Tuesday morning, about 5am, Fire and Rescue NSW rushed to a home in Lalor, in Sydney's west, after a 46-year-old man lit a fire in a small coal barbecue.

Police arrested the Lalor man over an alleged breach of bail conditions.

NSW police have urged people to comply with a total fire ban.

To find out the latest on the NSW and QLD bushfires, please refer to: