As temperatures climb, firefighters are attempting to extinguish a bushfire burning into its third day in remote mountain terrain south of Canberra.
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The fire at Mt Clear, which grew in size from 22 hectares on Friday morning to 36 hectares on Friday afternoon, is being controlled by the rural fire service but there are fears it could continue towards populated areas.
The boundary of the fire is now 35 kilometres south of Canberra's urban edge, 15 kilometres closer than it was earlier in the day.
An ACT emergency Services spokesperson said Sunday's severe weather conditions will complicate firefighting efforts.
"Due to the remote nature of this fire, there is a high potential for this fire to spread under these conditions.
"The objective today is to slow the spread of the fire and contain it. Some of the aircraft are water bombing the fire while others are being used to put retardant lines in place. Remote area firefighting ground crews are working hard to construct containment lines."
The spokesperson said if the fire spreads east, it would move across the ACT border into areas of NSW between Michelago and Bredbo.
"The ACT Rural Fire Service has put appropriate arrangements in place with NSW Rural Fire Service should this eventuate."
Six remote area firefighters remained on site on Thursday night to to monitor, map and mop-up the fire and its containment lines.
Around 35 firefighters worked on the ground while 12 fixed wing aircraft continued to attack the grass fire from the air.
Two bulldozers were also deployed to create a trail from the south of the fire to enable fire trucks to access to the area.
The fire was sparked by lightning on Wednesday night.
Rough terrain prevented fire trucks from accessing the area so water-bombing aircraft, including a C130 Hercules, were called in to provide support to ground crews.
