Father and son dead after becoming trapped in bushfire

A father and son have been confirmed dead in bushfires that have ripped through and devastated a number of towns on the NSW south coast.

The two men, aged 63 and 29, were residents of Cobargo, a small township west of Bermagui and in between Narooma and Bega on the Princes Highway.

“We can say certainly that the two men at Cobargo are residents of Cobargo. A father and son, as we believe,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Tuesday afternoon.

NSW Police said the two men stayed to defend their home while the elder man’s wife - the 29 year old’s mother - left on Monday evening.

On her return to the property on Tuesday, she discovered their bodies.

“Obviously trying to do their best with the fire as it came through in the early hours of the morning,” Ms Berejiklian said.

She described it as a “very tragic set of circumstances”.

A third person is still missing in NSW and unaccounted for.

“The other person that we are trying to get to, west of Narooma, we think that person as well was caught up, trying to defend their property in the early hours of the morning.”

Because fires have damaged telecommunications infrastructure, many in the area are without phone service, making it difficult to connect and check on loved ones.

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“Unfortunately, for many people in southern New South Wales, telecommunications is an issue at the moment,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“Please know that because of the damage to phone towers and also lack of reception in some of the remote communities, it is difficult to contact everybody at this time.”

Their deaths took the national bushfire toll to 11.

Fire obliterates Cobargo

The township has been aflame for much of the day, with multiple buildings on the main street destroyed. The town was evacuated earlier in the day.

RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons on Tuesday confirmed that dozens of homes and properties had been destroyed in Cobargo.

The fire affecting Cobargo is the Badja Forest Rd fire near Cooma, which rapidly moved eastward on Tuesday, having been predicted as a major threat along with bushfires in the Snowy Valleys area.

The RFS said significant damage had also been wrought in the towns of Fishermans Paradise, Broulee and Mogo

Bushfire conditions are expected to deteriorate on Tuesday as temperatures climb and a southerly wind change sweeps across the state.

Temperatures around the state are expected to peak on Tuesday, with forecasts of more than 40C across western Sydney and in regional NSW.

Too late to leave for thousands

In larger townships, residents have evacuated to the beach in Batemans Bay as the Clyde Mountain blaze affects homes amid a southerly. Massive traffic queues to escape the township have built on Beach Road, houses have reportedly been destroyed and embers are affecting the area.

Due to the persistent 226,000-hectare Currowan blaze in the Shoalhaven, those in Ulladulla and south of Nowra have been told it's too late to leave.

Some 17,000 Endeavour Energy customers on the south coast are powerless.

"The southerly change is also starting to make its way through the southern areas of the state, which turns these fires that are spreading in an easterly or southeasterly direction and (starts) to spread them in a northerly direction, which is posing additional threat," Mr Fitzsimmons said.

Almost 100 blazes continue to burn across NSW, with 60 uncontained and eight on Tuesday at "emergency" level. At least 2200 firefighters are working across NSW fire grounds, but aircraft use has been limited.

With AAP

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