The NSW Rural Fire Service has upgraded the fire threat in parts of the state amid warnings of "catastrophic conditions" and a total fire ban.
As NSW faces the "worst possible fire conditions" in its history with 'extreme' and catastrophic' warnings in place across large slabs of the state, RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the situation was as "bad as it gets" and warned it was set to get worse on Sunday when winds are expected to sweep through scorched parts of mid to northern NSW.
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'Catastrophic' bushfire warning for regional NSW
Conditions have firefighters on high alert on Sunday in the state's Hunter Region, central west and northwest . (Video courtesy: Seven)
"To put it simply [the conditions] are off the old scale," he said. "It is without precedent in NSW".
On Sunday, the RFS reported 76 bush and grass fires across NSW with 18 not yet contained. Deputy Commission Rob Rogers told ABC news on Sunday morning: "It's going to be a really tough day."
He warned residents in areas described as 'catastrophic' to leave their homes.
"We've got everything we can possibly need to be ready for this but obviously in conditions forecast like this, we can't guarantee to save everybody, we can't guarantee to save every house, we can't even guarantee to have a fire truck at every fire.
"People just need to focus on their own safety today."
A dramatic graphic image of the threat released by the RFS on Sunday shows a great swathe of the state covered in red, representing a 'catastrophic' or 'extreme' threat.
The area stretches from the lower central west plains taking in Dubbo, Parkes and Wellington, right up to the Queensland border in the north western region taking in Moree and Walgett.
The extreme threat stretches to the east taking in Gunnedah, Tamworth and the coastal Kempsey, Coffs Harbour region.
On Sunday morning, the Southern Ranges and Easter RIverina were upgraded to very high fire danger.
Commissioner Fitzsimmons said "catastrophic" fire ratings had been issued only once before in NSW - in 2013 - since national standardised ratings were introduced in 2009. Sunday's catastrophic fire rating will stretch from Dubbo to Coonabarabran to Port Stephens, affecting the Central Ranges, North Western NSW and the Greater Hunter.
"This is an area three to five times larger than January 2013," he said, when more than 140 fires burned across the state.
"[Any fire] will consume whatever is in its path."
Commissioner Fitzsimmons said conditions in some parts of NSW could be worse than Victoria's Black Saturday fires, Australia's worst ever fire disaster which claimed 173 lives in 2009.
He warned residents to prepare themselves. "We can't guarantee that a warning or telephone message will occur for everyone that comes under threat," he said. Text message warnings were being sent to residents in the Hunter Valley region on Saturday night.
Sydney's west recorded its hottest ever day, hitting 46.9 degrees at Penrith, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, eclipsing its previous hottest of 46.5 degrees in January 2013, while Richmond touched the 47 degree mark.
On the coast, Saturday's top of 36.1 degrees made it a record 11th day above 35 in Sydney this summer, while in the state's west, the small township of Ivanhoe, population 200, reached a stifling maximum of 47.6 degrees; the second hottest February temperature ever recorded in NSW.
A top of 39 degrees is forecast for Penrith on Sunday. It will reach 29 degrees in the CBD.