Department of Family and Community Services welfare functional area coordinator Dennis Shrimpton opened the centre and said the Department of Primary Industries was also prepared to accommodate domestic animals.

 “We are setting up an information and assembly point here for people who are driven from their homes as a result of the fire,” Mr Shrimpton said.

“We can place them with accommodation, mainly commercial accommodation in motels and we can give immediate assistance.”

However, he said 90 per cent of people would stay with family and friends instead of requiring their help.

As of 6pm on Sunday, Borry Gartrell from Borrodell Vineyard on Lake Canobolas Road had not been advised to evacuate.

Mr Gartrell said the fire was about three to four kilomtres away and waterbombing aircraft had been flying over every two minutes to fill up from Lake Canobolas.

Justin Byrne also lives near the mountain and said the wind had been in his favour but possessions such as laptops, passports and essentials have been gathered just in case.

“With the current situation with the wind we are OK,” Mr Byrne said. 

“We can see a lot of activity on a hill a few kilometres from us.

“The RFS is throwing everything at it.”

Mr Byrne said his household was OK to stay as long as the wind continued in the same direction.

“It’s watch and wait,” he said.

“We’ve never seen a fire quite this close, it’s quite nerve wracking, we’ve been here a long time and there’s always potential.”

The firefighting crews battling the blaze on Mount Canobolas had to counter less than ideal conditions, according to the latest forecasts.

According to weatherzone.com.au the temperature was expected to reach 30 degrees on Sunday afternoon, with wind gusting at up to 31km/h.

If the forecast is to believed, the coming days will see similar conditions, with Monday (29), Tuesday (30) and Wednesday (31).