Brief reprieve for fire crews ahead of hot, dry weather

Firefighters have contained a large bushfire on the NSW south coast, with conditions moderating. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)

Cool conditions over the weekend will play into the hands of NSW firefighters ahead of an expected rise in temperatures next week.

Coastal showers are forecast on Saturday, helping the Rural Fire Service to get on top of 20 or more blazes yet to be contained.

Despite the calmer conditions, more than 400 firefighters are on the ground across the state, along with 200 personnel in incident management teams.

"Crews are taking advantage of the conditions to work towards strengthening containment lines and mop up and blackout fires," operational officer Emilie Koek told AAP on Friday afternoon.

That's with an eye on forecast warm, dry conditions for the state in the middle of next week.

Thursday is set to take Sydney above 30C and parts of the Hunter Valley above 35C.

Cooler conditions allowed the Coolagolite blaze in the Bega Valley to be brought under control and ensured it did not expand beyond its 6800-hectare footprint.

However, scans on Thursday indicated a significant number of hotspots within containment lines, causing firefighters and waterbombing aircraft to work methodically on Friday.

The blaze destroyed at least two homes and impacted several others before a cool change gave firefighters the upper hand earlier this week.

Assesssment crews said 19 sheds were either destroyed or damaged.

Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib released disaster assistance funds to help affected residents with the clean-up and recovery.

Premier Chris Minns warned of a horror summer ahead, given the south coast blaze began in an area hit by the devastating 2019/20 Black Summer fires.

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