Overnight conditions have allowed fire crews to get the upper hand on the blaze. The fire has been downgraded to advice level.

Firefighters will remain on the fireground as they continue to strengthen containment lines. Backburning may be undertaken if weather conditions allow. A big effort from NSWRFS, NPWS and FRNSW with no homes lost and no lives lost.

FRIDAY

6.30PM: Major roads including Nelson Bay Road, Lemon Tree Passage Road, Richardson Road and Medowie Road re-opened by about 5pm, making planned evacuation centres for displaced residents at Tilligerry and Raymond Terrace unnecessary. 

The fire is being controlled and is expected to remain at watch and act level. 

For up-to-date information about the fire visit the Fires Near Me website.

5.15PM: Roads around the Salt Ash bushfire are re-opening as conditions ease and firefighters gain a better foothold to battle the blaze. 

Having burned almost 1700 hectares, the NSW Rural Fire Service now says the blaze is being controlled. 

“Conditions are easing however the fire is not yet contained,” firefighters said shortly after 5pm.

“It is burning uncontained on the southern side, between Richardson Road and Nelson Bay Road.”

Drivers are still urged to avoid non-essential travel through the area. 

Nelson Bay Road has re-opened between Medowie and Richardson Road, while Medowie Road is open between Nelson Bay and Ferodale Roads. 

At Richardson Road, the former closure between Grahamstown Road and Nelson Bay Road has ended. 

Lemon Tree Passage is also open between Brownes Road and Nelson Bay Road. 

4PM: Firefighters have downgraded the blaze to Watch and Act after it spent most of Friday at the highest alert level. 

“Conditions are easing however the fire is not yet contained,” the NSW RFS said shortly before 4pm. 

“Firefighters and aircraft continue to work on slowing the spread of the fire and protecting homes in the area.”

Unpredictable winds have driven the fire, which is not unusually large, in different directions at short notice.

That has challenged firefighters throughout the day, with severe turbulence augmenting their effect and forcing water-bombing aircraft to be grounded.  

More than 1500 hectares has been swallowed since the fire began on Thursday, when it threatened properties at Salt Ash Avenue near Paul’s Corner. 

Closures remain in place on Lemon Tree Passage Road, Richardson Road and Medowie Road. 

Nelson Bay Road is also shut between Medowie Road and Richardson Road due to fire activity.  

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1.05pm: Garden hoses helped Pauline and Mark Gilson douse their Lemon Tree Passage Road property as the fire neared around noon. 

A fire crew from Weston parked in their front yard, waiting in the backyard while the Gilsons filled gutters and checked their rainwater tanks. 

Ms Gilson said her son Ben returned from work at Mount Hutton along the beach after reaching Anna Bay on Thursday. 

She had sent him updates on the fire as it approached on Friday while the family moved their horses down the road where the air was clear. 

“Even the chooks put themselves away,” Ms Gilson said. “They’re not silly.”

Crews slipped between the Gilsons’ property and the Rookes Road one adjoining at the rear to face the fire. Helicopters lapped overhead intermittently, followed by huge gasps of smoke after they doused the blaze hidden from view by the scrub it sought to devour. 

Ms Gilson said the wait for bushfire to approach never got easier, no matter the blaze’s size. 

“You say this is bad, but you forget how scary they all are,” Ms Gilson said. “It doesn’t get easier, but you do get better prepared.”

The Gilsons’ back shed and parts of the property caught fire in recent years. 

“They’re expecting it to come through because they’re all here waiting,” Ms Gilson said.

“I think you learn not to go [as fire approaches]. If you have animals or anyone at home, you’re still beside yourself. At least here you know, and you’re all together.”

Mr Gilson said he was in awe of the firefighters standing vigil near his pool.

“They give up their day jobs to come and do this, to keep us safe,” he said. “You can’t thank them enough.”

10.15am: Planes and helicopters are bombarding near properties in Lemon Tree Passage Road as the fire burns towards them. 

Thick white smoke covers the road, where police have led some cars through the closed road. Fire trucks are parked in driveways along the strip, on standby to save houses if the threat deepens. 

Inspector Rolph Poole said a total fire ban was in place after an updated Bureau of Meteorology forecast predicted 90kmh winds, stronger than Thursday’s horrid conditions for crews. 

To the eastern end of the peninsula, areas still recovering from August’s bushfires will deprive the inferno of fuel. 

9.30am: A service station in Salt Ash is packed to the rafters with emergency service crew and commuters who have become stuck on the now closed Nelson Bay Road.

"There’s no room, it's totally chaotic," BP Salt Ash service station assistant Carrie Clarke said.

"It's all fully lined up the side of the road with people who have stopped and pulled over.

"People are sitting in the cars, walking around.

"There's trucks and everything up in the grass and paddocks, all the rows are taken, there’s no room."

She estimated there was "easily" 300 people on the premises of the petrol station, which she said is serving as an evacuation point and command centre for emergency services.

"Basically, we just have the whole service station, everything is packed," she said.

Ms Clarke is offering people drinks and lending them the station's phones, as some mobile services are not working in the area.

"We're offering free tea and coffee and stuff, we’re trying to look after them.

"The Salvation Army food van is up here cooking."

She said the servo's staff had been at the station from 3am to 10pm yesterday and were planning for another big day.

8.15am: People near Rookes Road at Salt Ash have been urged to seek shelter in the area after the Richardson Road fire that began in Campvale flared overnight and began heading east. 

“Only well prepared and actively defended homes can offer safety,” firefighters advise residents in the area. 

The fire has been elevated back to Emergency warning level, the highest classification that means it is too late to leave. 

The southern side of the fire continues to burn uncontained to the south of Richardson Road and north of Nelson Bay Road.

Crews are stationed along Nelson Bay Road to protect them if required. 

Lemon Tree Passage, Nelson Bay Road, Richardson Road and Medowie Road are closed, cutting off access to both Lemon Tree and Nelson Bay. 

Emergency alert messages have been sent to residents as strong winds continue to hamper firefighting efforts. ​

Friday, 6.30am: The northern side of the fire has flared up in the past hour, NSW RFS have said, prompting an elevated fire danger warning.

Firefighters have worked through the night to control the blaze that has burned around 1300 hectares near Port Stephens.

The southern side of the fire continues to burn uncontained and crews are on the ground along Neloson Bay Road prepared to protect properties there if required.

Fire crews are expecting strong winds to continue int the area today.

5.45pm: On a family property behind Paul’s Corner, James Worsfold said it went “from a bit of smoke to just flames” in minutes after the wind began swirling the blaze toward their property. 

“We had a few spot fires start out the front here and we just had to go and get a few buckets,” he said. “We haven’t stopped.”

Fire crews lined the ditches outside the property as Mr Worsfold and his family, greased in ash, took a moment’s respite among their cars draped with lawn sprinklers. 

Mr Worsfold said goats, cats, dogs and cockatoos on the property were at the front of their minds fighting the blaze. 

Horses were evacuated to land near Oakvale Farm to shield them from the brunt of the smoke. 

“We’ve had evacuation warnings here before but never actually had them (bushfires) here,” he said. “We’ve lost animals before ... it turned that quick, it went from no smoke to just flames.”

“It could have been a lot worse,” he said. 

From Paul’s Corner, Kevin Wedlock can usually see his Richardson Road property. But by 5pm on Thursday the only break in the white haze between the IGA, where people and dogs hid from the smoke, and his land was the flashing orange tongues of flame.

Mr Wedlock said it was the first fire he had encountered since moving to the area in 2002.

“It’s the price you pay for living in a rural area, unfortunately,” he said. 

He was one of several people taking refuge in the blacked-out Foodworks, alongside two dogs and a shop full of food at risk of spoilage. 

Manager Steven Nicholson said the fire was unprecedented in his experience. 

“I’ve never seen it burn up this way in 9.5 years,” he said. 

Between Paul’s Corner and Medowie Road roundabout, the sun disappeared over firefighters tackling spot fire flames in front yards. At the Medowie end, cars crowded the median strip as their drivers watched from bonnet perches. 

Salt Ash properties may face bushfire danger “in the next hour”, the NSW Rural Fire Service believes. 

The fire at Campvale, outside Raymond Terrace, has been burning near Richardson Road. At 3.30pm firefighters said the blaze had crossed Medowie Road and was burning towards Salt Ash. 

“Firefighters and aircraft are working to protect homes and slow the spread of the fire,” he said. “Large air tankers are being used.”

Emergency alert telephone warnings are being sent to residents. 

“If you are in the area of Salt Ash, it is too late to leave,” NSW RFS said.

“Seek shelter as the fire front arrives and protect yourself from the heat of the fire.”

“If you are not in the area, it may not be safe to return.” 

Medowie and Richardson Road are closed. 

Burning since about 1.30pm, the fire has burned about eight hectares north of Newcastle Airport. 

Watch and Act status denotes a heightened level of threat and changing conditions. Residents are advised to begin taking action to protect themselves and their families. 

With gusty conditions, the fire has quickly gathered intensity. 

“Crews are in place at a number of homes north of this fire, however there is no current threat to homes,” firefighters said about 2pm on Thursday. 

90 minutes later, it reached the highest level of bushfire alert at which “any delay now puts your life at risk”. 

Separately, a grass fire is being controlled after burning about 10 hectares at Lemington Road at Ravensworth.

The upper Hunter blaze near the New England Highway has required no road closures and no properties are under threat. 

Aircraft are assisting firefighters at the fire, which is near Singleton. 

A total fire ban is in place for the Hunter on Thursday, with strong winds forecast into Friday.