A sleepless night for south NSW evacuees

As fires took hold over the NSW south coast on New Year's Eve, evacuees, daytrippers, dogs and a tortoise crammed into a bowling club.

Sussex Inlet man David Warner was among a group of locals who had travelled to Nowra by bus before the Princes Highway was blocked off on Tuesday.

"When we came in, everything was blue, it was all good and then 11 o'clock (there was) all these fires, smoke, sirens everywhere," Mr Warner told AAP on Wednesday.

"I said, we're not going to get back."

Unlike those who had evacuated to Bomaderry Bowling Club, Mr Warner had nothing with him.

He said those running the centre were very nice but "none of us slept at all".

"It was shocking," he said.

"I will never forget this New Year's.

"It'll be stuck in my head 'til the day I die."

Near people and their pets - including dogs, cats and a tortoise - he watched Sydney's famous foreshore fireworks on a giant projection screen hanging at the front of the room as sausage sandwiches were served.

"I forgot it was New Year's actually because of all of what was going on," Mr Warner said.

Reality hit home on Wednesday as information from Sussex Inlet began filtering through the evacuation centre.

The body of a yet-to-be-identified man was found about midday in a vehicle on Wandra Road.

Sussex Inlet was a community where "everyone knows everyone", Mr Warner said.

"I'm a bit upset about it because I don't know who it is, and we know a lot of people in Sussex," he said.

Crews on Wednesday built containment lines around the massive Currowan fire that impacted Sussex Inlet and other towns over a 100km stretch of the coast.

A watch-and-act alert advises communities to monitor conditions, beware of falling trees and seek shelter as the firefront approaches.