Man charged over two NSW South Coast fires

A man has been charged with lighting a bushfire that took firefighters hours to put out on the NSW South Coast.

Police say the passer-by who initially called in the fire also noticed a man coming out of the bush on the side of the Princes Highway at Burrill Lake about 1.30pm (AEDT) on Wednesday.

Officers eventually arrested a 48-year-old local man and charged him with deliberately lighting the fire and an earlier fire on November 4.

He's due to appear at Milton Local Court on Thursday.