Firefighters have "broken the back" of a bushfire burning in mountainous bushland in the ACT's far south, while crews closer to home quickly pounced on a grass fire at Mount Taylor on Sunday afternoon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Soaring temperatures, dangerous winds and dry conditions combined to create the most dangerous fire day so far this summer, prompting a total fire ban and warnings from the territory's rural fire chief.
A 42-hectare bushfire burning at Mount Clear, at the far south of Namadgi National Park, had caused considerable concern since it began on Wednesday, and Sunday's conditions threatened to push it past containment lines toward the Monaro Highway.
But firefighters working in the rough terrain managed to bring the fire under control over the weekend.
ACT Rural Fire Service and Parks and Conservation crews spent much of the day there mopping up and dealing with flare-ups, while monitoring the front to ensure it stayed within containment lines.
Divisional commander Simon Bretherton had been at the scene for three days, and described Sunday as crucial to firefighting efforts.
"Today's a very, very difficult day with high fire danger conditions, which means smokes on the fire ground can pop up at any time, and potentially threaten the containment line," he said.
Just accessing the bushfire was difficult enough.
Remote area firefighting teams were dropped in to build a line around the fire, aided by water bombing aircraft.
Two bulldozers were later used to forge a dozer line from a nearby fire trail through the thick scrub, allowing tankers and bulk water carriers to follow, and the establishment of staging areas and a helipad.
"As you can see from the surrounds, we've got very rocky terrain, very thick shrub to walk through and deal with," he said.
Firefighters were busy mopping up and reinforcing containment lines on Sunday, while hoping for rain and cooler weather this week.
"If it escapes out of its containment lines, the fire can grow exponentially throughout the region," Mr Bretherton said.
"This is a very high conservation area of the ACT, part of Namadgi Park, so we want to limit the size of the fire as much as possible."
A small fire also burnt through grassland on Mount Taylor in Canberra's south about 1pm on Sunday.
Residents of Pearce, Torrens and Kambah were issued with a watch and act alert, but that was soon downgraded.
The ACT Emergency Services Agency said the fire had been controlled and there were no active flames about 2pm.
One southbound lane of the Tuggeranong Parkway between Hindmarsh Drive and Sulwood Drive that was closed has since been reopened.
ACT Fire and Rescue and ACT Rural Fire Service had 18 units and four water bombing helicopters that responded to the blaze.
Fire crews from NSW and the ACT also contained a fire that burnt out 12 hectares of grassland at Wallaroo in the Yass Valley on Sunday morning.
Another fire was burning through a remote region in the south of Kosciuszko National Park, closing camping grounds, lookouts, and a stretch of the Murray River.
