An emergency level fire is threatening at least 10 rural properties near Lithgow on the New South Wales central tablelands.
The NSW Rural Fire Service is asking people in the Home Hills Road area at Bogee, near the Capertee National Park, to evacuate immediately as a fast-moving grass and bushfire escalates.
People between Marsden Road and Capertee River are also at risk as it burns in a north-easterly direction towards homes.
The out-of-control blaze has burnt through more than 300 hectares of land since the RFS issued a watch and act at about 1pm.
It was then escalated to an emergency level just after 2:30pm.
Affected residents are being told to leave now as road access may become blocked.
The advice is to head north along Home Hills Road and Glen Alice Road towards Rylstone, south-west of Mudgee.
“We do want people to act immediately and not delay as this fire is moving very quickly,” Kennedy Porter from the Cudgegong RFS said.
The fire is burning in remote, rugged terrain on the outskirts of the Capertee Valley National Park. (Supplied: Wendy Stephens)
The RFS is warning that embers may blow ahead of the main front which could start spot fires and threaten homes.
Ms Porter said it was burning in “very rough terrain”.
“The fire is going to take its own path,” she said.
Ms Porter said it could have ignited because of recent lightning in the region, while variable winds and 33 degree C temperatures are fuelling it.
Approximately ten water tankers are on the ground, supported by four aircraft.
Local bed and breakfast owner Wendy Stephens is about five kilometres from the fire but is not under an evacuation order.
“It’s really starting to pump brown smoke out,” Ms Stephens said.
“They’re in the process of doing some water-bombing in the site,” she said.
She plans to stay put unless the situation changes.
“Because they’ve been able to get those aircraft out fairly quickly, hopefully they’ll be able to douse it fairly quickly,” Ms Stephens said.
There are more than 40 bushfires burning across NSW, most of them at the lowest level of advice.
A bushfire south of Merriwa has reached watch and act level this afternoon.
The fire is burning in Goulburn River National Park near the Bylong Valley Way.
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