NSW is in uncharted territory as bushfires burn across the state, with 15 emergency warnings issued for blazes from the Blue Mountains to the Queensland border, and footage showing "widespread" property damage and destruction.
More than 70 fires were burning on Friday night with NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons saying they'd be dealing with the blazes for a long time yet.
He said the RFS was receiving preliminary reports of property damage, and minor injuries to both firefighters and members of the general public.
"We can certainly see some of the aerial footage and the vision coming through which is identifying some widespread property damage and destruction right across multiple firegrounds," Mr Fitzsimmons told ABC on Friday night.
Firefighters had a "very, very long night" ahead, he said.
Earlier Mr Fitzsimmons told ABC TV: "It's a very dynamic, it's a very volatile and it's a very dangerous set of circumstances that we're experiencing."
"We are in uncharted territory ... we've never seen this many fires concurrently at emergency warning level."
Richmond Valley Mayor Robert Mustow, speaking from a Coraki evacuation centre in the state's north, said some people were saying their homes had been destroyed and others believed theirs would be.
He said his region was already going through a difficult time after fire ripped through Rappville just last month.
MidCoast Mayor David West, who lives in Brimbin, said that he had never seen anything like the fire in his area in his 73 years.
"I'm looking at a sky that's screaming danger, that's saying 'get out of my way, I'm going to kill you'," he told AAP on Friday night.
"I know that sounds melodramatic but it's not. This is a fire that's devouring everything in its path."
Mr West said he'd heard unconfirmed reports of property loss, and people in the Bobin area who were suffering.
ABC reported that the RFS had received reports of people at several locations being trapped in their homes.
The RFS in a tweet said many people had called for help but the size and speed of fires meant they couldn't get to everyone.
MidCoast Council deputy mayor Claire Pontin - who lives in nearby Hallidays Point - says the area was "tinder dry".
"It's just crispy. In places, you can hear the leaves crunching under your feet."
There were 15 emergency warnings current after 8pm including at: Hillville, Long Flat, Crowdy Bay National Park, Shannon Vale, Tapin Tops National Park, Willi Willi, Tyringham, Clouds Creek State Forest, Wandsworth, Carrai Creek, Stockyard Flat and Torrington.
It's thought two homes were damaged or destroyed in the fire burning at Stockyard Flat near Walcha.
The fire danger should lessen over the weekend, although threat levels are forecast to rise again on Tuesday or Wednesday next week.
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Rose Barr says there should be a brief reprieve in fire weather conditions as temperatures cool over the weekend.
"(But) from Monday conditions will warm up again and temperatures will heat up significantly," she told AAP.
Mr Fitzsimmons in an online video said that while conditions were going to be a little better on Saturday, "there's so much fire out in the landscape that there's going to be an extraordinary amount of work with firefighter crews".
Australian Associated Press
