Firefighters brought back to ACT to protect territory

The combination of temperatures above 40 degrees and high winds are expected to create dangerous conditions.

There were no fires currently burning in the ACT as of 6pm Friday and those ravaging NSW do not pose an immediate threat. Any risk would come from new fires.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said about 95 per cent of firefighters deployed interstate had returned to Canberra to protect the territory.

"By providing support to New South Wales during these fires, the Emergency Services Agency has been protecting the ACT by preventing fires spreading into the territory," Mr Barr said.

"This is particularly the case with Kosciuszko National Park.

"The territory government has also been working hard to support people who are coming to Canberra from the South Coast."

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Mr Barr said the government had been making arrangements for evacuation centres in the ACT to be stood up at short notice if required.

"At this time though there are no active threats to the ACT and these facilities are not required," he said.

Mr Barr said residents should visit the Emergency Services Agency website and complete a bushfire survival plan.

He has urged Summernats to ditch its planned burnout competition on Saturday.

Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman said patrols of ACT parks were occurring to make sure any fire threat was identified quickly. He said there had been deliberately lit fires in the ACT in the past week.

"This is a very dangerous time here, if you see something suspicious please call ACT police," Mr Gentleman said.

Police have been assisting with traffic operations as people evacuate into the ACT from the South Coast due to the increasing fire threat.

Emergency Services Commissioner Georgeina Whelan said the ACT was in close consultation with NSW and was providing surveillance of fire activity.

"I can assure you that our incident management team and our emergency management arrangements are in place, they are stood up and they are under way," she said.

She said the fire at Kosciuszko National Park may get close to ACT's border but was not expected to cross over.

"The weather conditions are quite unpredictable. And as a consequence of that we've got 24 hour surveillance looking at that activity, particularly the dry lightning strikes," she said.

"We did have a dry lightning strike just outside our border the other day and we were able to put 14 crews onto that fire within 30 minutes and eliminated it.

"So our intent is to keep a close eye on what's happening in our region and respond accordingly and prevent any expansions this weekend."

Canberra Health Services has urged anyone evacuated from fire affected areas with minor health concerns to attend a Walk-in Centre.

The centres are led by advanced practice nurses and nurse practitioners. There are no doctors at the clinics.

The entire Murrumbidgee River Corridor will be closed in addition to the existing total fire ban reserve closures. That means these recreational areas and reserves will be closed:

The Cotter Campground will be closed from 10am on Saturday.

These reserves and forests are also closed:

There is also a ban of naked flames across all of ACT Parks and Conservation Service's managed estate, excluding Cotter Campground, until the end of March 2020.

Five campgrounds are closed for the entire fire season. These are:

Canberra Nature Park (other than Mulligans Flat and Goorooyarroo Nature Reserves) and all pine forest areas (other than Kowen Forest) will remain open to the public until 10am.

Electric barbecues in Canberra's urban parks will be available, however all gas barbecues will be turned off.