HIGH temperatures and warm winds across northwest Sydney where bushfires are burning have eased, but authorities are preparing for possible flare-ups on Wednesday.
Earlier on Tuesday a significant part of the city's northwest was under threat from bushfires that have claimed two houses and injured several firefighters.
But the temperature has since dropped from a high of 32 degrees celsius down to between 16 and 18 degrees, a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman told AAP on Tuesday night.
And a gentle southerly wind change is blowing at 15 km/h, down from peak speeds of up to 80 km/h during the afternoon.
While conditions have eased, police are asking parents of the 900 children at Winmalee High School, in the Blue Mountains, to keep their kids at home on Wednesday in case the fires flare up.
The Department of Education has also been asked to close the nearby primary school.
Staff will be present at the schools to look after children whose parents can't make other arrangements, a Department of Education spokesman told AAP.
Earlier on Tuesday a house was destroyed at Winmalee and two firefighters battling the blaze there suffered minor burns, the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) said.
Another home was lost at Marsden Park in Sydney's west, and a shed has been destroyed near Castlereagh, where a fire raged through about 60 hectares of dry bush.
About 300 students from St Paul's Grammar School at Castlereagh were evacuated to Penrith's Whitewater Park after an emergency warning was issued for nearby properties.
More than 2000 people were evacuated from a University of Western Sydney (UWS) campus after a power outage and the RAAF base at Richmond lost power due to a problem with an Endeavour Energy substation.
About 1000 firefighters with 350 trucks and 14 aircraft are fighting 63 bush and grass fires across the state, 31 of which are uncontained, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell told parliament on Tuesday afternoon.
Five firefighters have been treated for smoke inhalation, he added.
Emergency Services Minister Mike Gallacher said "a significant part of northwestern Sydney" where there are "large numbers of homes" was threatened by the fires.
"These are all heavily urbanised areas," he told AAP.
Earlier on Tuesday smoke billowed over Windsor Downs Nature Reserve as water bombing helicopters and crews battled grass fires.
An RFS spokesman told AAP "it's certainly been a monster effort".
Emergency warnings remain in place for three large uncontained fires in Sydney's northwest.
The warm winds, gusting at up to 80km/h and fanning the fires are likely to ease on Tuesday evening, a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman told AAP.
And firefighters are hoping the southerly change lowers temperatures.
Crews will work thorough the night and probably the next few days to try and contain the fires, the RFS spokesman said.
"But that's still dependent on the weather and how strong the southerly change that comes through (is)," he told AAP.
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