Batemans Bay could face ember attack as South Coast fires intensify

The NSW Rural Fire Service warned Batemans Bay could face ember attacks on Tuesday with the Clyde Mountain fire expected to spread south.

Drivers have been warned the Princes Highway could be closed at any time during the day.

The Badja Forest Road fire, burning south of the ACT in the Snowy Valley local government area, was upgraded to emergency on Tuesday morning.

West of Canberra, the Dunns Road fire, near Tumut was also upgraded to emergency on Tuesday morning.

Fires at Werri Berri and Myrtle Mountain Road - both in the Bega Valley - were at emergency levels on Monday night but were downgraded to watch and act on Tuesday morning.

Rural Fire Service spokeswoman Angela Eurford said the fires were throwing a lot of embers in front and starting spot fires.

"Today (Monday) as expected was pretty problematic," Ms Eurford said.

"Tomorrow is certainly the focus by way of weather and fire conditions. The predominant activity has been the far South Coast and Riverina areas. These fires on the South Coast are likely to impact the Princes Highway.

"There are a number of relatively isolated areas ... that are popular holiday destinations. [The fires] may limit people's access."

Temperatures are set to soar on Tuesday creating even more challenging conditions for firefighters.

Batemans Bay is heading for a top of 36 degrees with the possibility of lightning.

A map released by the NSW Rural Fire Service predicting the potential spread of the fires on New Year's Eve showed a high risk of ember attacks, including in Batemans Bay.

The fire danger rating for the ACT, Illawarra/Shoalhaven and Southern Ranges is at extreme for Tuesday and fire bans are in place in 11 areas across NSW. A total fire ban is in place in the ACT until 6am Wednesday.

Firefighters are hoping for a slight reprieve on Wednesday when temperatures are expected to drop.

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The RFS made the decision to split the Currowan fire that has been burning between Batemans Bay and Nowra into three.

The blaze burning on the southern side of the Kings Highway, west of Nelligen, is now referred to as the Clyde Mountain fire and was at emergency on Tuesday morning. It falls under the Eurobodalla district and there are fears it could spread further south. It had burnt 30,000 hectares on Tuesday morning and was out of control.

The Charleys Forest fire is burning to the west but Braidwood is not under any immediate threat. That fire was at watch and act as of 6am Tuesday.

The Currowan fire was at advice level and has burnt more than 220,000 hectares. Crews worked on Monday to consolidate the northern and north-eastern parts of the fire near the Shoalhaven River but there was "every likelihood" the fire could jump the water, NSW Rural Fire Service district officer Brad Collins said.

"If it does cross the river we'll throw every single resource at it to stop the fire spread," he said.

If the fire jumped the river it could, in the "worst case scenario", impact on the Kangaroo Valley, but it would not reach the village on Tuesday. Instead it would take a couple of weeks, Mr Collins said.

Deteriorating weather and strong north-westerly winds across all fire grounds created challenging conditions for fire crews on the ground on Monday.

Several fires were sparked during the day and a total of 16 fires were burning between Merimbula and Nowra on Monday night.