There were hopes that the dangerous Tara bushfire, west of Brisbane, that has burned 11,000 hectares over four days would be contained by Friday.

Western Downs Mayor Paul McVeigh said firefighters were now hopeful of gaining control by the weekend as they take on three blazes in the region.

Firefighters are on high alert across the state with people at Lake Moondarra, near Mount Isa in the northwest, warned it is not safe to return after being told to leave early on Friday.

Firefighters have attended 420 blazes across the state this week, with reports of up to 32 houses destroyed.

Residents at Kogan have been told they must prepare to leave with the deadly Tara fire threatening properties on Friday morning.

“Fire and Emergency Services are hoping they may be on top of it come the weekend but fires are a different beast to manage,” McVeigh told AAP.

“But there is hope there.”

Tara residents have been told it is still not safe to return after hundreds were forced to evacuate this week, with one person claimed by the fire.

A body was found on Tuesday night but is yet to be identified.

A 73-year-old woman also died after suffering what is believed to be a heart attack while trying to evacuate her property.

There are another two fires on the Western Downs.

Firefighters are combating a large blaze started by a mid-week lightning strike that is threatening nearby Halliford, while another is about 10km outside Moonie.

McVeigh said more people arrived at Western Downs evacuation centres at Dalby and Chinchilla overnight after the Halliford fire threatened properties.

There are now 279 people at Dalby and 44 at Chinchilla.

Mr McVeigh was hopeful people would start returning to the Tara region soon.

“Tara is still a dangerous fire but today we may be able to let some people come back in there well away from the fire front,” he said.

Residents of the Tara township may have to wait longer.

“It might look like the fire is gone but we have got a lot of powerlines down and a lot of trees that have burnt through and potentially can fall,” Mr McVeigh said.

“We have to make sure we have no vulnerable situations. We have to make sure our roads and access is safe.”

He said the Moonie Highway remained open on Friday.

There are extreme high fire danger warnings for the central west, northwest and Channel Country on Friday.

The Darling Downs and Granite Belt area where Tara is located remains a high fire danger despite cooler conditions on Friday.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned the cool change had brought strong winds but little rain, with gusts of up to 70km/h in the central west.

“The winds should probably be starting to ease through tomorrow,” a bureau spokesperson said.

Cooler temperatures are expected for the northwest on Friday thanks to southerly winds.