Blaze hot enough to melt metal destroyed Lake Conjola street

In the space of a few minutes, the bushfire that hit the NSW South Coast town of Lake Conjola destroyed an entire street with an intensity so hot it turned car parts into melted metal.

9News reporter Brett McLeod was on the street where many of the town's 87 destroyed houses stood.

"Not only has this car been destroyed, but that silvery metal spilling on the ground is part of the engine block and part of the wheelhousing," he said.

"That would mean temperatures would have to reach several hundred degrees in order for that to melt.

"When you think about staying and defending, you have to think about whether you can defend against heat that could do something like this."

And locals who stayed in the town for the New Year's Eve blaze are leaving now.

"In the weekend coming up, conditions may not just be as bad as they were on New Year's Eve, they may be worse," McLeod said.

"One man who stayed and defended his home on New Year's Eve is packing up and preparing to go."