NSW bushfire threat near Tathra eases but firefighters fear 70 homes and buildings lost

More than 70 homes and other buildings are feared to have been destroyed in and around the town of Tathra, on the New South Wales south coast, the Rural Fire Service (RFS) says.

It is believed four people in the Tathra region have been treated for smoke inhalation and one RFS volunteer has been injured, but there are no reports of missing people.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is flying down to the devastated area.

Weather conditions eased overnight and the fire, which spans more than 1,070 hectares, was downgraded from emergency warning to watch-and-act level.

The RFS said it was being controlled.

The RFS began assessing the extent of the damage this morning, finding mobile phone towers were down and businesses as well as homes had been damaged or lost.

"Building impact assessment teams will move across the fire ground and that will be a process of going street to street, house to house," the RFS' Paul Best said.

The RFS said it was not yet safe for residents to return home due to a number of hazards like fallen trees and powerlines.

"It is really a dangerous place for people to be at the moment and we are definitely asking people to remain outside the township of Tathra as the firefighters go about their work," Mr Best said.

Fire quickly jumped containment

RFS deputy fire commissioner Rob Rogers said the fire quickly got out of control after it started yesterday afternoon.

"It jumped very quickly to a place called Thomson Road and that was where the first home was impacted and it just really quickly ran then into the main part of the town," he said.

"It is fair to say with how quickly that fire moved, there wasn't a lot of time.

"We are not talking hours here, we're talking minutes that people had warning of this."

Bega Valley Shire Council Deputy Mayor Liz Seckold was evacuated at the height of the fire and said she did not know whether her house survived the blaze.

Councillor Seckold said her family received no warning of the approaching fire.

"All the power was off, the phones weren't working, no messages have come up. The first message I got was at four o'clock in the afternoon just as I was leaving," she said.

'Everybody is banding together'

Affected residents are being told to remain at an evacuation centre in the nearby town of Bega.

More than 200 residents have sought shelter at the evacuation centre where they are being provided with food, toiletries and clothes.

Local vets have been offering their services to examine the many animals brought to the centre.

Bega Valley Shire council general manager Leanne Barnes said she was proud of how the community had pulled together.

"Everybody banding together to help as much as they can, the offers have been overwhelming," she said.

About 150 firefighters worked through the night to contain the blaze.

Several public schools will be shut today as a result of the fire.

Bega High School, Tathra Public School, Tanja Public School, and Bournda Environmental Education School would be closed today.

The RFS said fire investigators have been assigned to the fire to determine how it was started.