Gold Coast bushfires: Houses engulfed by flames during 2004 firestorms
The Gold Coast has a long history of bushfires but this one was among the worst. Seasoned firefighters decaled it to be one of the busiest days in memory as five houses were destroyed.
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THE Gold Coast has a long history of bushfires but this one was among the worst.
Just this week the Glitter Strip was blanketed in smoke as fires raged through the Hinterland, threatening homes.
It’s just the first of what promises to be a potentially dangerous year for the city, with tinderbox conditions likely to remain through the summer.
Those who have lived on the Gold Coast for years will remember some of our worst bushfire seasons.
In the Year 2000 the Hinterland was swept with flames as bushfires ripped across the southeast.
Dry conditions saw fire erupt in the Tallebudgera Valley as well in bushland near Movie World.
While homes were threatened, there were no deaths.
Fire struck again twice in 2004 when the city saw two major bushfires.
The first hit in on Saturday, August 14 when blazes broke out in Merrimac as well as at Tallai in the Hinterland.
Early that afternoon the flames tore through brush near Merrimac Primary school, lumping across Gooding Drive and threatening both the school and nearby St Michaels.
Merrimac deputy principal Wayne Jenks was working in his office at the school when he said he heard ‘what sounded like a huge storm’ outside.
‘‘I went outside my office, saw smoke everywhere and there were flames underneath the buildings, and obviously knew I had to do something quickly,’’ he told the Bulletin in 2004.
‘‘There is only minor damage, but it looked pretty bad when I first opened the door and it could have been a lot worse if the wind picked up.’’
Although there was no major damage at the school, some pipes melted, the outside of some buildings were slightly burned and a garden recently planted by students was burned. The fire also came close to St Michael’s school oval.
Nearby, the Radisson Resort was briefly evacuated as flames came close. Many people evacuated their homes until the fire was under control.
The second bushfire of that year hit two months later in early October 2004.
At least five houses were destroyed in the Coast Hinterland during the blazes, which occurred Between October 8-10 2004, the same weekend as that year’s federal election which saw John Howard’s final re-election.
Gold Coast Bulletin Glenn Hampson captured a stunning image of the shimmering heat haze of the bushfire bearing down on a Wongawallan property, destroyed it.
Hundreds of firefighters battled heat, and 60km/h winds, to save threatened homes in Helidon,
Wongawallan in the Gold Coast Hinterland.
Gold Rural Fire Service group officer Len Jeavons told the Bulletin at the time the situation was severe.
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“The fire situation is still severe,” he said.
Bruce Byatt, acting assistant fire commissioner for the southeast region, said
120 urban and volunteer rural firefighters had fought massive grassfires in Wongawallan, Austinville and Gaven.
‘‘We’ve had worse fires, but it was one of the busiest firefighting days we can remember
yesterday and unfortunately there is more ahead this weekend, and into the rest of the year,’’ he said.
About half a dozen houses in the Neranwood-Austinville hills came close to being destroyed over that weekend.
If this week’s fires are any indication, it’s going to be a long summer.
Originally published as Gold Coast bushfires: Houses engulfed by flames during 2004 firestorms
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