'Too late to leave': Londonderry residents warned as bushfire rages out of control

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Emergency warning for Londonderry bushfire

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Firefighters battle Londonderry blaze

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Emergency warning for Londonderry bushfire

An out of control bushfire is burning near The Northern Rd, Londonderry, in western Sydney. Vision courtesy of Seven News. No sound.

Hundreds of firefighters battled a blaze that threatened dozens of homes in Sydney's west on Sunday.

Firefighters were working throughout the night to strengthen containment lines after heavy duty water bombing aircraft – including the Hercules C130, known as Thor, and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, known as VLAT – were used to douse the flames.

Residents in Londonderry, Llandilo and Berkshire Park were being allowed to return home overnight, with the Rural Fire Service (RFS) confident it had brought the fire now under control.

However there were concerns severe winds would result in the fire flaring again, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting wind gusts in excess of 90km/h in the Central Tablelands. Firefighters were concerned the winds would cause spot fires.

Residents on the fire's perimeter told to remain indoors. 

After igniting around lunchtime, strong westerly winds fuelled the blaze across almost 300 hectares, burning in Castlereagh Nature Reserve between The Northern Road, Stony Creek Road and Ninth Avenue.

While no lives or homes were lost, there was one casualty when a 24-year-old volunteer firefighter was struck by a falling tree branch. She was taken to Nepean hospital with suspected injuries to her collarbone.

One Llandilo resident, whose property backs onto Castlereagh Nature Reserve, said she lost her back fence but did not report any other damage.

Earlier, Jordan Springs resident Melinda Eliassen told Fairfax Media the fire spread quickly.

"There are clouds of black smoke," Ms Eliassen said. "It's just getting blacker and blacker."

The fire started on The Northern Road in Londonderry and jumped across into the Castlereagh Nature Reserve, the spokesman said. The cause of the fire will be investigated.

Two other smaller fires also broke out in Faulconbridge and Lansdowne on Sunday afternoon but did not cause major damage. 

The fires come as RFS deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said he is "very concerned" about the fire potential this summer. 

The state's third-wettest winter on record has fuelled rapid grass and bush growth.

"The rain has had a huge impact on the western part of NSW," Mr Rogers said. "There is huge amounts of grass growing. We're very concerned once that dries off and goes all brown, it's going to be very flammable."

The wet winter also hampered efforts to conduct backburning. "We haven't burnt as many areas as we'd have liked to," Mr Rogers said.

He gave an ominous warning for the summer months: "The bush is quite ready to burn - we just need a few warm days."

With more than 74,000 volunteers, Mr Rogers said he is confident the RFS is ready for the worst of summer but encouraged others to sign up. "There is always a need for more volunteers in smaller rural areas but we still have very good numbers," he said.