Beard fire being controlled after threatening homes in Canberra's east and Queanbeyan on Thursday

The ACT Emergency Services Agency said about 4pm that it the fire was under control, after burning 424 ha.

"Firefighters are patrolling the fire-ground and, have been supported by the Specialist Intelligence Gathering Helicopter, undertaking aerial surveillance," it said.

"Firefighters will remain at the fire-ground overnight to extinguish any hot spots and strengthen containment lines."

Earlier, late-night rain helped efforts to contain the Beard fire that has stretched from Canberra airport to Queanbeyan.

The fire was burning at advice level on Friday morning and conditions for the day are forecast to be favourable. The fire was classified as being controlled.

On Thursday, two fires at Pialligo merged to create the Beard fire, which was at an emergency warning level for most of the afternoon. It threatened properties in Oaks Estate, Beard and Crestwood.

Preliminary assessments have indicated that five outbuildings have been lost or damaged in the fire, ACT Emergency Services Agency incident controller Matthew Mavity said.

Mr Mavity said the fire did not breach containment lines at Canberra Avenue, Oaks Estate Road and in the vicinity of the Queanbeyan Railway Station.

ESA commissioner Georgeina Whelan told ABC Radio on Friday morning the fire came within 450 metres of homes within Queanbeyan.

She said inspection assessments would continue on Friday.

Twenty-five crews will work on the fire on Friday, Ms Whelan said and she expected it to be extinguished over the next couple of days.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a top of 29 degrees for Canberra on Friday with a slight chance of shower and light winds.

"[There's] easing conditions but there is still a high fire danger. I don't want to lull people into a false sense of security," Mr Mavity said.

The fire hit a recycling centre at Underwood Street in Beard and thick, acrid smoke continued to billow into the air on Friday morning.

The authorities called the smoke "dangerous".

Residents under the smoke cloud were advised to stay inside and close all windows and doors and turn off airconditioning or to leave for cleaner air.

The fire burned close to the Brindabella Business Park and many workers shared footage to social media of the fire burning.

Some workers were evacuated on Thursday and access to some offices on Brindabella Circuit remained cut off on Friday morning.

A number of road closures on Thursday afternoon caused gridlock between Canberra and Queanbeyan.

As of 11:30am Friday, all roads had been reopened.

The Beard fire started after the Pialligo Redwood Forest and Kallaroo fires merged on Thursday.

The Pialligo Redwood Forest started on Wednesday but the cause of the fire is unclear. The Kallaroo fire started about 11am on Thursday and is understood to have started at the old Duntroon dairy farm when the wind blew over a tree on to power lines.

The fire was attacked from the air with foam to try to smother the smoke. A grader built barriers to prevent contaminated water and foam getting into the Molonglo River.

Those in affected areas went to evacuation centres at Queanbeyan Showground and the Dickson College relief centre.

The fire had also caused disruptions to rail and air travel.

All passenger flights in and out of Canberra airport were halted on Thursday because of the risk of collision with the numerous firefighting aircraft buzzing across the sky so close to the airport.

Stranded passengers were supplied with water and offered buses into the city.

The airport said it was open on Friday but urged passengers to check with their airlines for information regarding flights.

Trains to and from Sydney were disrupted. Queanbeyan station was within the cordoned off fire zone. Buses replaced trains between Canberra and Goulburn.

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In Fyshwick and Queanbeyan, traffic lights were out because of power cuts on Thursday afternoon. What could have been chaos was averted, though, because for the most part drivers were courteous and sensible. A policemen directed traffic near the Canberra Outlet Centre.

On top of all that, the ACT Emergency Services Agency's website was down for some of the afternoon. It was back up by Thursday evening and the agency had used social media to get warnings and advice out.

At the end of an intense and difficult day, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said: "Today has been a challenging day for Canberra.

"Fire being in the territory, road closures and very significant disruptions at times, the airport being in a state where flights were suspended for some time with cancellations for a number of airlines for the rest of today."

Despite the downgrade, the ESA was not relaxing. Ms Whelan was not anticipating a let-up in dangerous conditions.

High winds, thunder, lightning and heat might well continue. It was a combination that was a "risk to the ACT whether it be in the urban or rural areas".

The emergency services were scanning the territory for danger spots in order to direct their scarce resources as needed on Friday.