UPDATED 11.30AM:
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Tianjara fire upgraded to emergency level - if you are in Sussex stay put
The Tianjara fire is at emergency level, RFS spokesman Brad Collinbs says.
"We are about to send emergency texts to people in Jerrawangla, Wandandian and Bewong - all communities west of the highway," he said.
"We have had reports of leaves falling in Sussex Inlet, but not hot embers.
"We urge people in Sussex Inlet, Cudmirah and Berrara to stay put, as if they attempt to leave along Sussex Inlet Road they may travel directly into the path of the fire."
UPDATED 10AM:
The Tianjara fire has been upgraded to Watch and Act, due to increased fire activity. It is moving in an easterly direction, and pushing towards the back of Jerrawangla and Wandandian.
The fire may impact Wandandian, the Princes Highway and access to and Sussex Inlet today.
Firefighters, supported by aircraft and heavy plant machinery, are working to slow the spread of the fire.
Wandean Road and Braidwood Road (between Turpentine Road and Nerriga) are closed.
Smoke is currently impacting Braidwood Road and Sassafras.
If you are in the areas of Tianjara, Wandandian and Sussex Inlet, monitor the changing conditions.
Activate your bush fire survival plan.
If you do not have a plan, decide what you will do if the situation changes. Leaving early is your safest option
UPDATE 8.45AM:
Communities from Sassafras to Wandndian and Tomerong need to remain vigilant until the Tianjara fire is brought under control, RFS spokesman Brad Collins says.
"The is no immediate threat to property, but it is going to be a challenging day for us," he said.
The fire is currently on the southern side of Braidwood Road and pushing in an easterly direction. Braidwood Road has been closed in both directions. Braidwood Road from HMAS Albatross Technology Park to the intersection remains open at this stage.
The RFS is preparing aircraft to survey the fire. There is a one-kilometre exclusion zone around the former Tianjara firing range, where firefighting crews cannot operate.
"We are not sure how this fire started, but we will be treating it as suspicious" Mr Collins said.
"There have been no lightning strikes in the area recently. It will be investigated, but at the moment the focus is on suppressing it."
Fire crews are working on a bushfire south west of Nowra in the Tianjara area.
The fire broke out off Braidwood Road in bushland between the Tinajara Falls and the Yerriyong area just before 7am and has already burnt out 35 hectares.
The fire is just east of Tianjara Falls and is moving slowly in a north easterly direction and is at advice level at the moment.
Fire crews are looking to close Braidwood Road to the west on the Nerriga side of the fire.
The concern is the fire is in the vicinity of the former Tianjara firing range, which was primarily used for artillery training from World War II until the 1980s and has an unknown amount of unexploded ordnance, or UXO.
It's certainly not the start to the day fire crews were after on a day where the fire rating is extreme and a statewide total fire ban declared until midnight Saturday.
The temperature in Nowra is predicted to to hit 40 degrees.
There will be areas of smoke haze, which will be thick at times.
Winds will be from the west/nor west 25 to 40 km/h increasing to 45 km/h before shifting south/sou east 25 to 40 km/h in the early afternoon, before decreasing to 15 to 25 km/h in the evening.
The fire earlier in the week at Falls Creek in bushland off Forest Road is under control and has burnt out 45 hectares.
Meanwhile, the massive Currowan fire to the south is listed as being controlled but has burnt out almost 100,000 hectares.