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Strong and gusty winds, combined with very hot conditions and the long drought have made fires very bad this week.

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When are the fires going to be at their worst?

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When are the fires going to be at their worst?

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How bad the fire actually is.

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People in the area around Canungra in the Gold Coast hinterland have been told to prepare to leave.

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Friday 6 September

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Posted September 06, 2019 05:40:09

Communities in south-east, southern and central Queensland are bracing for what could be the highest fire conditions for September in the past six years, with severe to extreme fire dangers forecast.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said locally catastrophic fire conditions were also possible for isolated parts of the southern interior.

There is an extreme fire danger forecast for the Maranoa and Warrego, as well as the Darling Downs and Granite Belt districts.

Severe fire conditions were forecast for the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Wide Bay and Burnett and South East Coast.

BOM said strong and gusty winds are expected to bring hot, dry conditions on Friday, with a south-westerly wind change to move across the southern interior in the afternoon.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the conditions were unprecedented for early September.

"We have had situations where many of these communities have not experienced any rain, the conditions are really dry," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"That's got a lot to do with the extended period of drought, plus the strong heat conditions we are seeing at this time of year."

Ms Palaszczuk said emergency services were well-prepared.

"We already have a dozen aircraft that are already operating or are on standby, and fire bans are in place across the south-east and south-west," Ms Palaszczuk said.

In Far North Queensland, a home was destroyed and several more threatened in a large and fast-moving blaze that broke out in Biboohra, north of Mareeba, on Thursday, during the hottest part of the day.

Challenging conditions for firefighters

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) Acting Commissioner Mike Wassing said firefighters would be up against extreme conditions.

"These conditions will be challenging for our firefighters, and bushfires which start will be fast-moving and hard to contain," he said.

"This is the first time this bushfire season where we will experience conditions like this, and our highly trained and skilled firefighters are ready to respond if required.

"We also have several waterbombing aircraft on standby, ready to respond from Toowoomba, Boonah, Bundaberg and Giru."

Contract helicopter pilot Nathan Payne said the drought conditions around the Darling Downs region would make waterbombing more difficult.

"A lot of the smaller dams, the farmers' dams that we utilise at times, are very dry, so it's going to be difficult to find water," Mr Payne said.

"We'll just keep looking and ground crews can sort out collar tanks if we need it, but at the end of day we'll find water from somewhere and pump it."

Queensland Fire and Emergency Service Deputy Commissioner Neil Gallant said crews were prepared if they struggled to find water in dams.

"The trucks do carry some water with them, but we can also use some dry firefighting techniques using bulldozers and graders to create breaks," he said.

"If the conditions allow, we can do some backburning but sometimes those conditions are too severe to even do backburning."

Mr Gallant said residents in impacted areas should monitor the fire and weather situation through local radio stations, the Rural Fire Service (RFS) and the BOM.

"If they prepare their properties, make sure it's clear around their houses, make sure they have a plan, and listen to the warnings if they need to evacuate to get out early," he said.

Communities on alert

Residents Chris and Ken Myers spent yesterday preparing 13 acres of their property at Crows Nest, north of Toowoomba.

"We've cleared around the house ... put in fire breaks along fence line - it's all you can do," Ms Myers said.

"[The dry] is a massive worry and a massive danger - it really is because you've got your dry [weather]... and the wind makes it even more dry because it sucks any moisture out - so it just compounds."

The couple saw large bushfires come through their property in 2012 that lasted for more than two weeks.

Rural firefighter Leisa Wagstaff, from the Gowrie Little Plain Rural Fire Brigade, urged residents to be familiar with their bushfire survival plan and make sure properties were tidy.

"People should be clearing around their houses, getting rid of all rubbish, and slashing if they have got high grass," she said.

"Cleaning the gutters out and having a clean space around their place ... also make sure that trucks can access through their gates if we need to get it."

Local fire bans were in place for Moreton Bay, Brisbane, Redland, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Scenic Rim, Somerset, Toowoomba, Southern Downs, Western Downs, Goondiwindi, Maranoa, Balonne, North Burnett, South Burnett, Cherbourg, Gympie, Maryborough and Bundaberg areas until midnight Friday.

Topics: bushfire, fires, emergency-planning, emergency-incidents, disasters-and-accidents, brisbane-4000, qld, australia, frazerview-4309, canungra-4275, southport-4215, toowoomba-4350, goondiwindi-4390, beaudesert-4285

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'Fast-moving and hard to contain': Southern Queensland braces for severe to extreme fire conditions

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Posted September 06, 2019 05:40:09 Communities in south-east, southern and central Queensland are bracing for what could be the highest fire conditions for September in the past six years, with severe to extreme fire dangers forecast. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said locally catastrophic fire conditions were also possible for isolated parts of the southern interior.

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Thursday 5 September

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Updated September 05, 2019 12:45:31

There will be extreme to locally catastrophic fire danger conditions in the Darling Downs, Granite Belt, Maranoa and Warrego tomorrow, the Queensland Rural Fire Service (QRFS) has said, while residents near Sarabah in the Gold Coast hinterland are being told to prepare to leave.

It would only be the second time a catastrophic fire danger rating had been declared - the first was in November last year when fierce bushfires ravaged central Queensland.

Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) senior forecaster Peter Otto said a cold front would move across the state on Friday.

"Ahead of that there will be hot, dry windy conditions," he said.

He said it was difficult to say what specific areas might experience catastrophic conditions.

"It's not helpful to try and pinpoint specific areas of catastrophic because it really is isolated in nature," he said.

"But generally speaking, around the Darling Downs and Granite Belt, that's the area where the largest risk is forecast as that area will be hotter and have the strongest winds."

QRFS acting regional manager Clinton Newman has urged people to prepare now and heed any warnings from emergency services.

"We're looking at fires that will be fast moving and difficult to control, so people who do not have well-prepared properties or who haven't got a plan, we're in the phase where it might be too late so their plan might be to leave early," Mr Newman said.

"We'll see fire bans from midnight Thursday night or Friday morning, through to midnight Friday night or Saturday morning ... so pretty much all of Friday.

"So ... make preparations today."

The areas facing a significant fire threat include Toowoomba, Southern Downs, Western Downs, Goondiwindi, Maranoa and the Balonne Shire council areas.

Meanwhile, residents at Sarabah, south of Canungra, in the Gold Coast hinterland have been told to prepare to leave their homes, with conditions once more expected to worsen this afternoon.

People in the Gold Coast hinterland area are being impacted by heavy smoke that is reducing visibility and air quality.

QRFS regional fire manager for Brisbane, Wayne Waltisbuhl, told ABC Radio Brisbane crews are struggling to bring the Sarabah fire under control.

"That fire's not contained at the moment ... it's in really rugged terrain, which makes it hard for firefighters to get access," he said.

There are no properties under direct threat, but fire authorities have urged residents to be ready to enact their bushfire survival plans.

"We have not seen it this dry for so long coming out of winter without any rain - it has really caused us some real concerns," Mr Waltisbuhl said.

"We are taking this forecast and the conditions we can see very seriously at the moment, this is one of the worst forecasts we can get.

'An event worth respecting'

Mr Otto described expected conditions on Friday as a "rare event".

"It looks like the highest fire dangers for September for at least six years, so it's certainly a rare event, and one worth respecting."

He said "vigorous winds" were also expected to whip up a dust storm in western Queensland, affecting the south of the state into the weekend.

"We do expect some of that dust to reach the populated parts of the south-east coast," he said.

"So we expect through the weekend, a dust haze to emerge on the south-east coast, but it won't be as substantial as the dust over western Queensland."

He said wind gusts of 35-40 kph were forecast for southern districts on Friday, moving towards the east coast, ahead of a cooler change.

"Temperatures ahead of that cool change will be 7 to 8 degrees above average, maybe 9 degrees in some parts through tomorrow," he said.

"After the change, temperatures will drop to around the average, possibly below."

Other areas facing severe threat

The fire rating for the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Wide Bay and Burnett and south-east coast is expected to be severe tomorrow.

There is currently one bushfire in the south-east at advice level, at Kurwongbah in the Moreton Bay shire.

Two other fires, at Upper Flagstone in the Lockyer Valley and Frazerview in the Scenic Rim, have been downgraded to notification level.

All three of those fires have been contained.

A very high fire danger remains in place for eastern districts.

There's a total fire ban for most of southern Queensland including Logan, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Somerset, Lockyer Valley and Scenic Rim.

Under a local fire ban, open fires are prohibited and all permits to light fire that have been issued in areas will been cancelled.

Topics: bushfire, fires, emergency-incidents, emergency-planning, disasters-and-accidents, toowoomba-4350, qld, australia, brisbane-4000, frazerview-4309, canungra-4275, goondiwindi-4390, lockyer-4344, southport-4215

First posted September 05, 2019 07:19:50

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'Make preparations today': Catastrophic fire conditions forecast for southern Qld

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Updated September 05, 2019 12:45:31 There will be extreme to locally catastrophic fire danger conditions in the Darling Downs, Granite Belt, Maranoa and Warrego tomorrow, the Queensland Rural Fire Service (QRFS) has said, while residents near Sarabah in the Gold Coast hinterland are being told to prepare to leave.