Burn-off sends smoke across city

A HUGE pillar of smoke erupted from a fire at bushland in Leichhardt on Thursday.

Firefighter Mick Byrnes at the blaze at Tony Merrel Park yesterday.

A HUGE pillar of smoke erupted from a fire at bushland in Leichhardt yesterday.

The fire, deliberately lit according to fire fighters on the scene, burnt through Tony Merrel Park on the boundary of Wulkuraka and Leichhardt and sent smoke through nearby neighbourhoods.

Acting station officer Jed Crosby said the heart of the fire was too isolated to be accessed by trucks, so the brigade instead back-burnt around the area.

"We've had quite a few fires in this area deliberately lit recently," he said.

"A fortunate thing about that was one side of the area had already been burnt out."

While the billowing smoke was severe, only one fire crew was needed to put out the fire.

The crew burnt off grassland around the fire, concentrating on the area near the northern end of Flinders Dr closest to the blaze.

Despite houses' proximity to the fire, Mr Crosby said residents were never in danger and there was no need for any evacuations.

"The biggest issue for the residents would have been the smoke."

The billowing smoke was thick enough to force police to close streets in the area due to low visibility.

The fire is the latest in a run of deliberately lit blazes across the area. Fire fighters reported 20 fires were deliberately lit in August in areas west of Ipswich.

Fire fighters remained at Tony Merrel Park throughout the afternoon monitoring the fire.

Fire fighters said they would continue investigating the cause of the fire.

Originally published as Burn-off sends smoke across city