Two houses were destroyed in the bushfire that swept through the Bega Valley on the New South Wales south coast yesterday.
The NSW Rural Fire Service has completed the first stage of property assessments following the fire, which has burnt through more than 3,300 hectares and is still out of control.
It said the destroyed homes were in the Yankees Gap Road fire at Bemboka, where four outbuildings were also destroyed.
Firefighters are working to slow the bushfire's spread and establish containment lines, according to the RFS.
RFS spokesman, Marty Webster said firefighters had conducted a partial assessment of properties and expected to complete their assessment of potential damage in the coming days.
"It's always disappointing to hear of any property loss and our hearts go out to those who have suffered those losses," he said.
"It's probably also pertinent to think about the number of properties that we did successfully protect, but I know that doesn't take away from the losses that the individuals are experiencing.
"I know there are support services in place."
Mr Webster said firefighters were using a "window of opportunity" to backburn ahead of deteriorating conditions on Saturday.
"We do see a return to strong and gusty winds on Saturday — up to … 40 kilometres per hour — which is a nasty day in anyone's language, but certainly nothing like what we experienced on Wednesday."
He said residents may see increased fire activity and additional smoke, but assured them adequate resources were on hand to deal with it.
Further property damage
RFS Building Impact Assessment Teams confirmed one house was damaged in a separate bushfire at North Nowra, where one outbuilding was destroyed and another was damaged.
The RFS said firefighters were taking advantage of easing conditions to conduct backburning.
At Mount Kingiman, west of Ulladulla, 11 outbuildings were destroyed and one was damaged, the RFS said.
That fire has burnt through more than 1,300 hectares of bushland and firefighters are backburning and using heavy machinery to establish containment lines around the fire.
There are 79 bush and grass fires burning throughout the state, of which 33 remain uncontained.
