Residents across the inner north were urged to stay indoors last night as fears resumed that toxic gases from a Mitchell factory fire could cover the city.
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The Emergency Services Authority issued a new alert just after 4pm announcing that wind changes would require residents in Campbell, Watson, Dickson and Braddon to remain indoors.
The authority emphasised that it was merely a precautionary measure and that it was safe for residents outside the exclusion zone to venture outdoors.
The warning followed a day of mixed alerts as to the level of danger presented by smoke plumes billowing from the Energy Services Invironmental chemical fire in Mitchell.
An ESA spokesman told ABC Radio early in the morning that conditions had been favourable, with the fire starting in the middle of the night, in a low-traffic industrial area and at a time of little winds.
The announcement matched reports by Weatherzone meteorologist Doug Frenton, who said winds were as low as 13km/h at that point and ''spinning all over the place'' to the point smoke mainly billowed straight up and hovered above Mitchell.
PHOTOS: How you captured the fire But the wind was reported to have split in two directions by 7am, with one plume moving north-westerly over Mount Majura and another moving north-east.
Mr Frenton said a surge of northerly winds came in between 9am and lunchtime before changing direction again to remain mostly westerly for the rest of the afternoon.
''Overnight they could be variable but by [Saturday] morning I'd say they'll be pretty lightly and predominantly westerly,'' he said.
''They'll pick up to west-north-westerly winds in the afternoon with potential gusts of 30 to 40km/h, so hopefully that will blow any remaining smoke away from the city.''
The Emergency Services Authority was acting cautiously last night, suggesting the exclusion zone around Mitchell remain in place for the weekend and for people to avoid the area. ''People who have concerns they may have come into contact with the product of the smoke plume and have any symptoms should seek medical attention at an emergency department or ring emergency triple zero for life threatening cases,'' an ACT Fire Brigade spokeswoman said yesterday.
Meanwhile, explosions from the chemical fire packed enough punch to set off earthquake instruments at the Australian National University.
Smoke plumes rise above north Canberra
Provided by a reader who asked not to be named:
As part of an ANU research project, Research School of Earth Sciences post-doctorate fellow Dr Natalie Balfour was testing 40 seismometers, one of which had been placed on the floor of her second-storey office.
When she arrived for work yesterday morning, she found that the seismometer had registered seven separate readings between 2am and 2.30am. Although small in magnitude, the readings give some idea of the force and fury of the explosions in yesterday's industrial fire.
Dr Balfour said she was surprised to see the explosions were picked up by the instruments.
