Superintendent Mark Williams said conditions are expected to deteriorate in the Shoalhaven over Monday and New Years Eve day when a strong southerly change is forecast to hit.

"We've got a total fire ban in the area today and we're expecting 38 degrees and low humidity with some strong northwesterly winds," Supt Williams said.

"The Currowan fire itself is sitting around 136,000 hectares."

A significant focus for the RFS is the eastern line of the fire and keeping the blaze west of the Princes Highway.

"And that's between Little Forest and Wandandian but also up on the northern line," he said.

"We're actually conducting and strengthening a backburn operation that's been going in from now for a number of days, in and around from Turpentine Roads to the northwest right down and including Bamarang Reservoir.

"We'll be focusing on solidifying those containment lines in the expectation of some strong northwesterly winds that will test those containment lines as the fire moves its way across to that."

The backburn is part of an overall plan to steer the fire as west as possible.

"We've got that blocking pattern in there now and that backburn has gone in fairly significantly."

"That will offer some protection for the areas such as Nowra Hill and West Nowra and the further we can progress that west will provide additional protection should the firefront come across."

"We've been doing a lot of work around public liaison with people, both sides of the river, to be ever aware and vigilant of this fire as it is in the landscape."

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