On Tuesday evening, a fire in the Royal National Park at Loftus in Sydney's south reached "watch and act" status before firefighters extinguished it. Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said on Tuesday night the Loftus fire was "clearly suspicious", while police have established a crime scene at the site of the Turramurra fire. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The other fires under investigation were at the New England Highway near Moonbi, at Hooka Creek Road at Berkeley in the Illawarra, at Honeymoon Lookout at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, three fires in bushland north-west of Doonan Place at Balgownie near Wollongong and four fires at Morisset in Lake Macquarie. Police have also charged two men allegedly found in possession of emergency service paraphernalia suspected to have been stolen.

A 19-year-old man has been charged with impersonating an emergency services officer after he was seen riding a motor scooter in the Royal National Park while allegedly dressed in a NSW Fire & Rescue uniform about 9.30pm on Tuesday. The bushfire crisis engulfing NSW is far from over, despite conditions easing on Wednesday and all fires being downgraded from emergency warning level. On Wednesday morning there were 73 fires burning across the state with 37 yet to be contained. Sixteen fires remain at "watch and act" level. Firefighters defend properties in Hillville on Wednesday. Credit:Nick Moir Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said 50 homes had been damaged or destroyed on Tuesday, bringing the total to "more than 300" since Friday. Firefighters are now scrambling to control the remaining fires with favourable conditions providing some relief after shocking weather on Tuesday caused a "catastrophic" fire danger warning.

But the weather is expected to worsen again on Friday with "elevated fire dangers" continuing into the weekend, Mr Fitzsimmons said. "Unfortunately, what we need is rain. What we need is meaningful rain. And there is certainly nothing in the forecast for the foreseeable future that's going to make any discernible difference to the conditions that we are experiencing," he said. Another "burst of really hot conditions" is predicted to arrive next week, with Mr Fitzsimmons warning the scale of the fires meant many blazes would remain alight. "We will not have all these fires contained before then. We will not have all these fires contained and locked up for many, many weeks, given the enormity of the firefighting effort," he said. Thirteen firefighters received minor injuries in Tuesday's fires but there were no reported fatalities and nobody is unaccounted for, the RFS said.