About 40 of 90 bushfires across the state were yet to be contained and conditions were expected to worsen around Tuesday, prompting Premier Gladys Berejiklian to urge the community to "remain vigilant". Ms Berejiklian said there were about 1000 staff and 2000 volunteer firefighters in the field. Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said it would be a "long summer" that would take "all of the resources that we have available to us". NSW Labor Opposition Leader Jodi McKay accused the government of being caught "absolutely flatfooted" and said "massive firefighting reinforcements are required". "We are relying on weary volunteers working night after night. They are exhausted and they cannot be expected to sustain this effort indefinitely," she said. RFS founder and former commissioner Phil Koperberg said he remained in contact with senior staff "on a daily basis". Resources from the National Parks and Wildlife Service were "really at the point of exhaustion", with other agencies similarly stretched.

Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "People are nervous and they have a right to be," he said, adding that with the dry conditions across NSW and forecasts of more heat, "the worst is yet to come". "We're going to need to spend a lot of money on deploying a lot more mechanical and technical resources, and more boots on the ground," he said. "But it must be done." A Shoalhaven RFS firefighter said he had received two paged messages on Friday calling for volunteers. The second of them came at 1.30pm, just hours before the 4pm shift was to start. Loading

"We're struggling to get volunteers at night," he said. Taking such shifts "stuffs up two days for you", he said, and it also meant potential safety issues if drivers or other staffers were effectively up for 24 hours or more. RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said NSW had drawn on support from 3000 interstate fighters. Some 21 Canadians will join the fray in northern NSW, with US crews to arrive over the weekend. Michael Gate doing his best against the fury of the Green Wattle fire in Orangeville. Credit:Nick Moir Aviation specialists would also be added to "help us with fatigue and crew rotations", he said, as volatile fires burned along the coast. Mr Fitzsimmons said Sydney could remain blanketed in smoke for weeks, if not months.

Sydney and the Greater Hunter were among five districts forecast to have very high fire danger on Saturday, while New England and the Northern Slopes were likely to have severe fire risks. Tuesday's forecast is likely to be the next big test for crews with temperatures for many areas just inland from the coast likely to climb into the 40s. Sydney is expecting a maximum of 32 degrees on Tuesday and Penrith 43 degrees. Loading Some crews were reporting inadequate equipment rather than staffing. “We have enough blokes, but it’s just a question of resources like water tankers and water itself," said one Fire and Rescue NSW employee, who didn’t want to be named.

He said the firefighters from his brigade in Sydney's west had been sent to Kempsey, Woodford and now Bawley Point in the past month. Separately, Bawley Point RFS captain Charlie Magnuson said the brigade had been sent a number of extra crews since the Currawan fire near Bateman's Bay began to rage on Monday. “We’ve been working hard but the extra hands from Fire and Rescue and other crews have been great,” he said. He and other members of the crew had slept in the town’s RFS shed over the previous five days. Mr Koperberg said the fire maps mostly showed blazes that were merely contained, and it would not take much - such as a falling trees to spark across containment lines - for new fires to flare. The Shoalhaven RFS firefighter agreed. "They are all ticking timebombs - without rain those fires won't be put out," he said.