ADVICE - Update five - Bushfire at Mt Clear

The ACT Rural Fire Service is continuing to work on extinguishing a bushfire burning at Mt Clear.

The Bushfire Alert and Warning Level for this fire has been set at ADVICE.

The fire is currently located on the western ranges of Mt Clear, approximately 35 kilometres south of Canberra's urban edge.

The fire is approximately 36 hectares in size and is being controlled.

There are currently 35 firefighters working on the ground supported by at total of 12 helicopters and fixed wing aircraft including a L100 Hercules with a 14,000 litre capacity for fire retardant or water.

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.

Two bulldozers have also been deployed to make a trail from the south of the fire to provide access to the area for fire trucks in the coming days.

Severe conditions are forecast to impact this fire on Sunday and due to the remote nature of this fire, there is a high potential for this fire to spread under these conditions.

An easterly spread of this fire would see the fire 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.

The ESA advises you to monitor the situation for any changes through local ACT media outlets, the ESA website esa.act.gov.au, ESA Twitter account @ACT_ESA, ESA Facebook account @ACT Emergency Services Agency, the Fires Near Me mobile device App or by calling Access Canberra on 13 22 81.

This advice should be read in conjunction with current weather conditions. Current weather observations can be found on the Bureau of Meteorology website http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/act/observations/canberra.shtml