But organisers have stood firm, saying the event was safe to run and would go ahead.

The ACT has declared a state of alert as it braces for high temperatures and strong winds.

The burnout competition is the marquee event at the Summernats car festival and attracts revheads from around the country.

Speaking at the ACT Emergency Services Agency on Friday, Mr Barr said organisers needed to use some common sense and postpone the scheduled burnouts.

"It would be my very strong preference that they look at the forecast and they look at the circumstances surrounding the weather and the significance of tomorrow and the emergency situation ... and reschedule elements of their program tomorrow," he said.

"Our preference would be they would come to that conclusion themselves as responsible, mature adults."

Summernats co-owner Andy Lopez said he had no plans to cancel the burnouts on Saturday and was surprised to hear Mr Barr's comments.

"We have 60 professional firefighters on site," he said.

"We are completely self-sufficient so we are not a drain on resources. We've been really happy with how things are going.

"It's safe and it's well-managed and it will be delivered really brilliantly for our crowd and contestants. We don't see a need to cancel because they're delivered safely."

Mr Barr said there was a community expectation that the burnouts would be cancelled given the forecast fire conditions.

He also said the government had the capacity to step in should conditions become extreme and the burnouts were not postponed.

"I would hope that organisers would reach that conclusion themselves without needing the government to bring in the big stick," Mr Barr said.

"It should be very clear the sort of circumstances that we're facing as a community tomorrow and some self awareness, some understanding of what everyone is going through at the moment should come into play.

"And I'm sure that they will make the right decision."

Under the Emergencies Act 2004, introduced after the 2003 Canberra bushfires, ESA Commissioner Georgeina Whelan assumes the role of Emergency Controller even when there is not a state of emergency declared.

Although the ACT is currently in the lower-tier "state of alert", the legislation still carries similar levels of power for the Fire Commissioner if the Chief Minister is satisfied that an emergency "is likely to happen".

As Emergency Controller, Ms Whelan has wide-ranging powers and authority.

She can place a complete property under her authority, direct the movement of people or vehicles, prohibit people from entering an area, or direct people to leave an area. She also can call on police assistance at any time.

Chic Henry, who started Summernats in Canberra in January 1988 and slowly grew it into the biggest street machine festival of its type in the country, said the Chief Minister's warning placed Summernats co-owner Andy Lopez in a very difficult position.

He said that if he was placed in the same position as Mr Lopez, he would proceed with the burnouts and endeavour to manage the likely fallout with the Chief Minister later.

"It's Andy [Lopez]'s call but if I was running it, I would keep it going," Mr Henry said.

"The bigger issue here is the massive crowd expectation. Calling off the burnouts would generate a very volatile and angry crowd situation.

"The depth of public enthusiasm for the burnouts is phenomenal.

"People come from all over Australia to see this.

"They wait for hours to get their seat in the stand and then are prepared to sit in fierce heat for hours to watch.

"And Saturday is when the heavy hitters in the burnouts are scheduled to hit the track. Everyone wants to see them."