A week after it first threatened homes, a ferocious blaze continues to burn on the Western Downs as firefighters across the state prepare for conditions to worsen.

Conditions have eased on Monday, giving firefighters some reprieve as they battle a blaze near Tara that has claimed one life and destroyed 40 homes in the past week.

However, people in the region are still being told they should prepare to evacuate, with strong winds and higher temperatures set to ramp up from Tuesday.

Interstate crews are being brought in to help in Queensland’s southwest, with 12 fire trucks from Victoria expected by Monday night.

Some incident management teams and air attack supervisors are also set to join local crews.

“We are expecting escalation (of fire conditions) again tomorrow,” Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Acting Deputy Commissioner Joanne Greenfield told ABC TV.

Overall there have been 900 fires across the state in the last 10 days.

Total fire bans are in place for 64 of Queensland’s total 77 local government areas.

Western Downs residents have been warned they should prepare to leave at towns around Tara including Condamine, Barramornie, Kogan and Montrose North.

Hundreds have already been forced to flee their homes with more than 200 arriving at evacuation centres at Dalby and Chinchilla.

Some people have lost everything in the Tara fire that has reportedly burned more than 20,000 hectares.

Donations of clothing and other essentials have begun to arrive in the Tara region from people travelling as far as Brisbane, an almost four hour drive away.

The federal government has also confirmed financial support is available for people affected by fires at the Westerns Downs and Darling Downs regions in the past week.

One-off payments of $1000 per adult and $400 per child are on offer through the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment.

The Disaster Recovery Allowance provides up to 13 weeks of federal income support.

“People who have lost their homes, loved ones, and those who are still waiting to hear important news about their properties are going through an unimaginable experience and my heart goes out to them,” Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said.

“I urge people to stay vigilant by listening to the latest advice from local authorities.”

Besides the Western Downs, there are also “prepare to leave” warnings currently for Colosseum near Miriam Vale in central Queensland and in the central highlands at Carnarvon Gorge, Buckland, Consuelo and Rewan.

The Bureau of Meteorology said an extreme fire danger was expected for the Darling Downs and Granite Belt area on Tuesday due to strong winds and high temperatures.

Gusts of up to 40km/hr and temperatures of 37 degrees are expected for Dalby near Tara on Tuesday.

There is a high fire danger for most of the state’s west for the rest of the week.

In NSW, a total fire ban is in place for seven districts as the Rural Fire Service recorded 75 blazes across the state, with 22 yet to be contained.

There are extreme and high fire dangers for the majority of the state with hot, dry and windy conditions forecast.