Hundreds flee homes as bushfire threatens outback town
A bushfire has forced hundreds of people to flee homes in Queensland’s southwest amid fears it could worsen due to heatwave conditions.
Hundreds of residents have been evacuated from a regional Queensland town as a heatwave fuels an out-of-control bushfire.
More than 500 people were forced to flee Dirranbandi, six hours west of Brisbane, as two fast-moving grassfires threatened the township on Tuesday night.
Only about 45 residents chose to stay in the area located near the Queensland-NSW border after a “leave immediately” notice was issued about 8pm AEST on Tuesday.
As of Wednesday morning, about 80 people had arrived at an evacuation centre set up at nearby St George.
More than a dozen crews and four aerial bombers battled through the night to try to contain the blaze.
There was a slight reprieve with favourable conditions late on Tuesday but residents were warned it was still unsafe to return as power, sewerage, telecommunications and other utilities had been lost.
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There have been no reports of injuries or loss of homes but there has been damage to power poles and telecommunications infrastructure.
Rural Fire Service Queensland acting chief officer Ben Millington said temperatures were expected to top 42C on Wednesday, sparking concerns the Dirranbandi fires could worsen.
“Whilst the fire conditions have abated overnight and the early hours of this morning, there is potential for that to escalate again later today,” he told AAP.
The cause of the two grass fires had not been determined but Millington said lightning could be to blame.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a heatwave warning for southeast and inland Queensland on Tuesday, covering the Balonne Shire where the bushfire was burning.
Meteorologist Miriam Bradbury warned heat would intensify across western and inland Queensland, sparking an extreme fire danger warning.
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Conditions are not expected to ease for days, with another escalation predicted on Thursday as a trough moves across northern NSW to Queensland with border town Goondiwindi reaching 40C.
Millington warned the next 48 hours would be the most challenging for fire crews across the state due to the risk of fresh blazes erupting.
“We are seeing elevated fire conditions for the next couple of days until there’s a change on Saturday,” he said.
“We are monitoring conditions very closely, not just today, but the next 48 hours for various areas across the state, including those southwestern parts.”
Fires are also burning on the Atherton Tablelands, near Cairns in the far north, as well as Mount Isa in the northwest.
Millington said it was only the start of what was expected to be a dangerous bushfire season.
“We knew we had a lot of grassland fuel loads on the back of some of that flooding and the rain earlier this year,” he said.
“The bureau has told us we are expecting above-average temperatures and somewhat average rainfall leading into summer, and that’s eventuating.
“Until we see some significant rainfall across the state, we are expecting to see this fire activity continue for the foreseeable future.”
