A man has been found dead and homes might have been destroyed after a bushfire swept through properties on the NSW mid-north coast.

The 56-year-old’s body was recovered from a property at Stony Creek Lane at Temagog, about 30km west of Kempsey.

He has not yet been formally identified but it’s believed he was a local man who was trying to protect his property from the approaching flames.

Emergency services were called to the property at around 10.15pm on Monday following concerns for the man after the bushfire tore through the area.

His body was located by officers roughly 100m from a bulldozer, which was also burnt, NSW Police said.

There are unconfirmed reports that further homes could have been impacted by the fire, the NSW Rural Fire Service said.

As of midday on Tuesday, the blaze had burned through more than 11,000ha and remained uncontained.

A watch-and-act warning was in place after the fire was downgraded from emergency-alert level about 4am.

The cause of the blaze was not known, but district superintendent Shane Cribb said any reports of people lighting fires in the area – which has been under a total fire ban at – would be thoroughly investigated by police.

The fire was expected to move to the northeast towards Willawarrin later on Tuesday, the RFS said.

Local and out-of-area crews remained on the ground to battle the blaze with the support of fire-fighting aircraft, including a large airtanker.

RFS district manager Liz Ferris said firefighters were trying to bring the blaze under control before conditions deteriorated on the weekend.

“We’re moving towards this containment strategy ahead of … worse weather predicted between Saturday and Sunday,” she said.

Strong southerly winds impacted the fire ground on Monday evening, making conditions challenging and the fire’s path unpredictable.

“Yesterday was a really big day with the total fire ban day and not very good weather,” Ms Ferris said.

“So we have put … what we call a heavy weight of attack on there and we’re trying to protect the community as best we can.”

Fire crews were also watching two other fires at Crescent Head Rd, 15km south of Kempsey.

Both of those fires were at an advice level and as of midday Tuesday were under control.

Firefighters were also working to contain a blaze 5km north west of Byron Bay, which was increasing in activity.

Another fire at Springwood Park Rd near Cope, north of Mudgee, was brought under control and an emergency warning lifted on Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday morning there were 69 fires burning around the state with 32 yet to be contained.

Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib expressed his condolences to the family and friends of the 56-year-old, as well as those of veteran volunteer firefighter John Holmes, who died after a medical episode on a fireground on Saturday.

“Our emergency service volunteers give up so much to help keep others safe,” he said.

“In this case of the senior deputy captain John Holmes, he gave his life in service to our community.

“Our state is unfortunately all too familiar with the impact of devastating natural disasters and emergencies and this is something we have again seen this week with serious bush and grass fires across NSW.”