Fire warning for Orange, Central West among expected horror fire conditions

An already charred state will be on high alert from border to border as temperatures push past 40 degrees in many locations.

The RFS is warning people to not travel or sight-see this weekend and to ensure they do nothing which could prompt the start of a fire.

The Central West will be no different, and the RFS is on high alert looking at all forested regions in the Canobolas Zone, from Mudgee down through the Mullion Ranges, Ophir, Mount Canobolas and out near Wyangla Dam.

Firefighters also expect the Palmers Oaky fire near Sofala to meet up with the massive Gospers Mountain fire burning in the Blue Mountains.

"If it doesn't join up over the next few days it absolutely will on Saturday," Mr Selwood said on Thursday morning.

He said conditions on Saturday, which in Orange will be 37 degrees, would be dependant on the wind, which weatherzone.com.au is predicting will average about 30km/h.

Orange will be 36 degrees on both Friday and Sunday, with a high chance of smoke blowing across from fires.

"On a hot and dry day we can handle [fire] but wind throws knocks around our firefighting ability," Mr Selwood said.

Lightning could also spell extreme danger for residents - especially with the fires forming their own weather conditions near the Gospers Mountain blaze - and Mr Selwood urged people to be aware how quickly conditions could change and to stay alert.

He also asked people to delay all non-essential travel - especially towards the South Coast

Mr Selwood also pleaded for people to not do anything that might risk causing a fire, including using angle grinders or welders, for the next few weeks, and encouraged anyone who saw someone using machinery which called sparks to call police.

He said the conditions across the state were as bad as he'd ever seen.

"We've got fires burning from the Queensland border down to the Victorian border and I've never seen than in my 50 years [on the RFS]," he said.

"Superintendent David Hoadley is up there at the moment and about now the poor buggers are normally floating around about now in the monsoon season.

"It's just unprecedented... at this stage only the man upstairs or mother nature can put these fires out, depending on what you believe."

He said while a smattering of rain was predicted early next week, the long-term outlook has rain arriving in mid-February, but the RFS is expecting to come into winter without much rain.

"Whether the cause is climate change or whatever you believe, something's gone wrong," Mr Selwood said.

He said at this stage the RFS was already facing the prospect of going into the winter seasons with summer-like conditions.

None of the Canobolas Zone's firefighters have been on the South Coast, instead battling both the Gospers Mountain and Palmers Oaky fires, with most tankers heading out for day trips.

Mr Selwood said firefighting capabilities around Orange and the region wouldn't be affected by firefighters heading towards the Blue Mountains.