Bushfire emergency: Tamworth, Gunnedah, Narrabri and Armidale firefighters deployed in strike team to fight NSW fires

Fire and Rescue NSW firefighters from Gunnedah, Tamworth city and West Tamworth, Narrabri and Armidale are currently on the trucks, headed for Sydney.

Fire and Rescue NSW Chief Superintendent Tom Cooper told the Leader the crews would bunker down at the emergency services academy base in Orchard Hills on Tuesday night.

"Their mission is at the moment to the emergency service academy and they're reporting there tonight," he said on Tuesday afternoon.

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"They'll be deployed tomorrow morning, about 6am probably, and they will be on a five-day deployment, so they're in the field for five days so they could backfill a lot of places where other crews have been deployed."

The south east of of NSW is being devastated by massive bushfires that have engulfed parts of the south coast.

There are people unaccounted for, and weather systems are being generated within the massive fires, only worsening the national emergency that continues to unfold.

Superintendent Cooper said it's like nothing he's ever seen.

"I haven't seen anything like this before, I've been in this job for 32 years," he said.

He gathered the team on Tuesday morning and they were on the road about midday.

"Conditions have eased here enough for us to help out down the south east of the state," he said.

"We've only sent appliances from locations where we've got cover, and we've still got our basic cover in the Tamworth area, and the other towns.

"They're stretched down there, they came up and helped us when we had the major fires around Glen Innes and Tingha, and they helped us when we needed it so we're returning the favour.

"These strike teams are going all that way to help other people and save lives."

He also said the community can be assured that there is enough fire trucks and personnel for normal cover.

"I've got enough from the other areas like Glen Innes, Moree, Armidale, those sorts of areas to form another strike team for our area," Superintendent Cooper said.

"We've got enough 'fat in the system', if I can say that, for guaranteed response in the immediate area for the New England North West."

Pumpers from Tamworth city and Armidale are part of the team, along with the compressed air foam tanker from West Tamworth, as well as tankers from Gunnedah and Narrabri.

A strike team from the Port Macquarie and Grafton area that involves three tankers and two pumpers is also being deployed, Superintendent Cooper said.