The fires have been especially severe at Lithgow and the Blue Mountains, choking access to Centennial Coal’s Clarence mine and engulfing the area around its Angus Place and Springvale collieries.

The Bell’s Line of Road has been shut as scores of houses in the Blue Mountains have been burnt. This could hit manning levels, with many mine workers living in the Blue Mountains and commuting to Lithgow.

The Lithgow area is being engulfed by a 30km front that is still not under control.

Also, the links with Sydney have been disrupted, with Premier Barry O’Farrell warning against non-essential travel – with queues to get in and out of the city backing up by as much as 20km.

Sydney still has a pall of smoke around it as emergency crews are mobilised around the state.

To the north, fires around Heatherbrae could affect transport of supplies and maintenance crews of major earthmoving and underground mining equipment suppliers.

Also, in the central coast Wyong area where many mine personnel live, fires are encroaching on the Doyalson North, Swansea, Cams Wharf, Murrays Beach, Cave Beach and Catherine Hill Bay.

Similarly, fires are raging in the Port Stephens area, another popular residential area for Newcastle miners.

To the southwest, the Hume Highway is blocked in the Southern Highlands, affecting Boral’s Berrima mine.

To date there have been no fatalities, but authorities are warning against complacency as high winds fan flames across rivers and highways.

Deputy Rural Fire Service commissioner Rob Rogers told ABC radio that fire crews were bracing for a return of bad conditions on Monday that could reignite the 30 fires that were still raging out of control around the state.