Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Crews brace for more fire battles across Qld - ABC Online


Updated October 24, 2012 07:45:44


It is going to be another busy day for firefighters battling blazes across Queensland, with no heavy rain predicted and gusty winds forecast for the south-east.


There were more than 60 bushfires burning across the state yesterday but most were under control or out by late last night.


Bushfires were still burning in the Crows Nest National Park, north of Toowoomba; at Ipswich, west of Brisbane; near Mt Morgan in central Queensland; and at Tamborine in the Gold Coast Hinterland.


Weather bureau senior forecaster Peter Otto says conditions will be similar to yesterday.


"There's no fire weather warnings out for today but conditions will be still difficult to manage," he said.


"We will get some gusty south-easterly winds about the south-eastern parts of the state in particular.


"It seems there won't be a lot of rain around over a lot of Queensland for today, so no relief there.


Rural operations director Peter Varley says the weather predictions are certainly not the best conditions.


"Certainly a bit better than they have been in the last few days, but Friday again temperatures will be starting to rise and winds picking up again," he said.


"We will have to see what Friday and the weekend brings."


Brisbane fires


Another two grassfires have flared up in the Brisbane region this morning.


One is burning at the back of the Nudgee Golf Course on the city's northside and the second grassfire is at Petrie.


Fire crews are on scene but say no property is under threat.


About 20 firefighters worked through the night battling a blaze at Greenbank, south of Brisbane.


'Exploding trees'


Meanwhile, Bulloo Mayor John Ferguson says tens of thousands of hectares has been burnt in fires around Thargomindah in the state's south-west, which are now contained.


There have been scores of fires across the region, including around Charleville, Cunnamulla and Mitchell.


Mr Ferguson says some graziers are facing significant losses from bushfires over the past week.


He says the heat from some of the fires was extraordinary and caused trees to "explode".


"We've probably lost around 90,000 acres altogether and it is going to take a long time to come back if we don't get rain," he said.


"The fire was that hot that mulga trees were just exploding - within a matter of seconds, the mulga tree was just a black skeleton standing there.


"It was unbelievable the heat in the fire and it's not finished, that is for sure.


"This is going to keep on going until we get out of summer."


Mr Ferguson says the fires started from lightning strikes and graziers are keeping a close watch to ensure they do not reignite in the windy conditions.


"Whirly winds are going to be a problem, because there will still be stumps and sticks smouldering," he said.


"If those whirly winds pick up and they take a few hot ashes out - and that is all you need now - is to drop them on the other side of the breaks, and it all starts all over again, so there'll be a big problem.


"Mother Nature is sort of putting us to the test at the moment I think."


Arson suspected


In the state's South Burnett, police say a number of grassfires in the area may have been deliberately lit.


Vast tracts of grazing land have been burnt at Manumbar, north-east of Kingaroy, over the weekend.


Detective Sergeant Mark Ferling says farmers have reported seeing a number of suspicious cars at the time.


"At this stage it's only been grazing country being burnt out, but not far from these sites is yards and other buildings and some homesteads," he said.


"We just want to try and stop the person responsible for this before someone gets hurt or property gets damaged."


Topics: bushfire, emergency-incidents, emergency-planning, brisbane-4000, longreach-4730, southport-4215, toowoomba-4350, bundaberg-4670


First posted October 24, 2012 07:43:20



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