Australia fires live: Canberra bushfires threaten suburbs as heatwave hits NSW and Victoria – as it happened

We will close this blog for the evening shortly, but will re-open our rolling coverage of the ACT’s state of emergency early on Saturday.

The forecasts suggest a testing day, yet another at the end of this brutal summer. A severe fire warning is current for the ACT and southeastern NSW.

Fires are running out of control in both jurisdictions, and fanned by hot and windy conditions, could threaten lives and homes Saturday.