Warning for Deepwater fire and Boongary Rd, Kabra, bushfire
Financial assistance is now available to residents of Baffle Creek and Deepwater whose homes have been impacted by recent bushfires. DETAILS, VIDEO.
Rockhampton
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Financial assistance is now available to residents of Baffle Creek and Deepwater whose homes have been impacted by recent bushfires.
The blaze in the Deepwater area has been burning for the best part of a week and torn through about 3600 hectares of land.
Government support announced at the weekend would be provided through the joint Commonwealth-state funded Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
Personal Hardship Assistance provided $180 for individuals and up to $900 for a family of five to cover the costs of essential items such as food, clothing and medicine.
Uninsured residents could also access means-tested grants up to $5000 a household through the Essential Services Safety and Reconnection Scheme to reconnect damaged services such as electricity, gas and water.
Full details available at qld.gov.au/disasterhelp.
Meanwhile, firefighters had conducted damage assessments to check if the area in Deepwater was safe for residents to return.
Some warnings for the area south of Agnes Water decreased on Friday morning, for the areas of Taunton, Euleilah, Baffle Creek, Rules Beach and surrounding areas.
The fire was burning between Muller Rd and Capricornia Dr in the region.
As of 8.16am on Friday, it was not safe for residents of properties between Capricornia Dr, Pacific Dr, Oceania Crt and Muller Rd, including Sorensen Rd.
Footage released by QFES on Thursday showed waterbombing planes over the blaze and the charred landscape.
The footage also showed thermal imaging of the fire, which had torn through 3600ha of land at Deepwater.
Investigators continued to probe the cause as brave firefighters battled the blaze.
About 23 fire crews were on the ground working to keep it burning within containment lines that crews worked tirelessly to construct on Wednesday night.
Included in the firefighting efforts were seven aircraft and the Large Air Tanker.
Incident Control for the Deepwater fire Paul Storrs said the blaze moved in a westerly direction towards Oyster Creek on Wednesday night, but didn’t reach Oyster Creek Rd as expected.
“There has been a lessening in the weather, the weather is still there but it’s not quite as harsh as yesterday,” he said.
“The time of the weather lessening a bit was around the time the fire peaked at the top of a hill, so it was the right timing.
“The work today will be to keep it contained to that area … with the wind picking up today it could push it across our lines, but we’re watching and working vigilantly to make sure it doesn’t spot across those containment lines.”
Mr Storrs said the geographic inspection team was on site assessing damage, however, residents wouldn’t be able to return home until assessments were completed and areas were deemed safe by the rapid damage assessment team.
He said there had been reports of property damage, but was unable to comment on how much or how many homes, if any, had been lost.
“I’m really hoping the RDA can come today and say we can open it up today but it really depends on what damage has happened to the environment, the last thing we need is for someone to drive up to their driveway and a tree fall on their car,” he said.
“The local government are also sending a team out there to check on the roads.
“As quickly as possible, as soon as it’s safe we will open it up for people to come home.”
Mr Storrs said crews had come from as far as Bundaberg and Maryborough to help battle the blaze and give local crews a rest.
“Some have come in, slept and went in to relieve the crews this morning and some went in last night and gave the local crews a rest,” he said.
“Over the next through days we’ll rotate that through so the local crews get a couple of days sleep and get a chance to go home and see what happened at home as well.
“Of course these are their homes and communities, so we’re giving those crews some rest while the other crews are in the area.”
Acting Assistant Commissioner for QFES in the Central region Steve Smith said the cause of the fire hadn’t yet been established and investigations were under way.
Gladstone region Mayor and chairman of the local disaster management group Matt Burnett said the refuge centre in Miriam Vale was still open, but no one had made use of it.
He said the centre would remain open for as long as necessary for anyone who needed it.
Mr Burnett said he was in contact with residents of the Baffle Creek area as they anxiously watched the fire unfold.
“It’s almost five years to the day since the Deepwater fires of 2018, so there’s certainly some feelings of nervousness and anxiety in the community for sure,” he said.
“They’ve been through a lot there’s no other community, I think, in Australia that has been through the natural disasters this community has been through, resilient is a nice word to use they certainly are, but this has certainly triggered some memories from a few years ago.”
Residents of Oyster Creek, near Agnes Water, and Deepwater were warned it wasn’t safe to return home as fire crews continued working to bring a bushfire under control on Thursday morning.
Fire crews at Deepwater worked through the night to backburn and construct fire breaks as they continue fighting the blaze.
A prepare to leave warning was issued for Matchbox Rd at Deepwater at 3.55am and again at 10.36am Thursday.
Mr Storrs said the not safe to return areas were where fire crews were on the ground battling the blaze.
“There’s a section there where we still have active fire and, as I mentioned, we have seven aircraft including a large airtanker, so that’s a lot of water being dropped out of the air,” he said.
On Wednesday night Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems pilots assisted crews with situational awareness, hotspot detection and mapping.
An evacuation centre was set up at the Miriam Vale Community Centre on Wednesday as fire crews worked rapidly to contain the blaze in “unfavourable weather conditions”.
A warning to leave immediately for Oyster Creek was released by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services on Wednesday at 2.26pm and again at just after 7pm.
Properties between Uxbridge Rd, Oyster Creek Rd, Muller Rd and Coast Rd, including Kirchner Rd.
In the latest warning, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said a large fast-moving fire was burning between Oyster Creek Rd and Muller Rd. It was expected to impact Oyster Creek Rd and Kirchner Rd within the hour.
The warning said lives could be at risk and it would soon be too dangerous to drive.
The fire service also provided an update for the fire at Deepwater, telling people that had left the area that it was still not safe to return.
Firefighters were still working to contain the fire, with help from firefighting aircraft.
Earlier, Rural Fire Service inspector and incident controller for the Deepwater fire, Paul Storrs, said the fire had now burnt out 2800 hectares.
A warning for properties between Capricornia Dr, Pacific Dr, Oceania Ct and Muller Rd including Sorensen Rd also remains in place at 2.30pm on Wednesday to watch and act and is it not safe to return.
One house was destroyed and one other structure perished in the fire, but no one was injured.
Inspector Storrs could not comment on further damage as the appropriate team hasn’t been able to get in and assess.
The fire had almost doubled overnight and 28 appliances, five rotary aircraft, a large aircraft and bulldozers were in use on the ground to contain it.
“The weather is not favourable, we still have difficult conditions this afternoon (Wednesday), the wind and humidity are not playing in our favour at the moment,” Insp Storrs said.
“There is potential it could grow again but we are working as quickly as we can with the crews on the ground and the local community.”
The area has lot of “fuel loading” as it is dense bushland, with some swamp land and a creek along the side.
The properties were mostly lifestyle blocks with a mix of permanent housing and some for weekender homes.
Gladstone Regional Council arranged an evacuation centre at Miriam Vale Community Centre.
Inspector Storrs said the best thing affected residents could do was listen to the messaging from Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, keep alert and stay in touch with neighbours.
“We would like to get those containment lines around in the next 24 hours, however that being said, we’ve got to work with the weather,” he said.
“The weather and the conditions are going to be the real guider here and we need to make sure we are looking after the safety of our crews as well as that community.
“We will keep reviewing that message as soon as we can.
“We will let people back as soon as we can.”
It could not confirmed at this stage how the fire started.
A fire is also burning in the west of the Central Queensland region, around Carnarvon National Park and Bandana State Forest, and was believed it could burn for several weeks.
The QFES advice warning was downgraded to a “stay informed” level on Wednesday at 1.12pm.
The warning areas are Carnarvon Gorge, Bandana State Forest, Consuela Tableland, Mount Hetty, Mount Moffat, McLeay State Forest, Westgrove, Injune and surrounding areas.
Multiple fire crews were called to Gracemere and Kabra, west of Rockhampton on Tuesday, which remained downgraded to a “stay informed” advice level.
The “small, fast moving” grass fire at the rural area was called in to QFES about 11am, with a prepare to leave warning issued at 1.34pm.
The warning was downgraded to stay informed at 3.56pm.
A spokeswoman for Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said multiple crews remained on scene to fight the fire at 4pm Tuesday.
She said fire crews had support from waterbombing aircraft and earthmoving equipment and the blaze was about 200 acres in size.
The spokeswoman said crews conducted structure protection methods as well.
Stanwell local Ebonie Gillies feared the fire could get close to her property, with the dry conditions making things worrying.
“It doesn’t rain often at Stanwell and being as dry as it is, and we don’t have access to water, it’s very scary,” she said.
“My husband works away, so I’m glad I have good neighbours who can help me out when I need it.
“We don’t have any water, the boys have machines where they can do firebreaks and stuff but that’s about it, you just have to be more prepared.
“Hey (her husband) has been doing some grating and stuff around the house.”
The QFES spokeswoman said a stay informed warning was also in place for the broader area.
During the earlier prepare to leave warning structures on Morgan St, Wiseman St and the Capricorn Highway were under threat.
A number of council and private water trucks were on scene at the Kabra Pub, where an incident control centre had been established.
Queensland Police Service spokesman said officers were in the area helping people in the Boongary Rd vicinity evacuate, as well as some traffic control.
A reporter at the scene said police were on Boongary Rd turning vehicles around.
QFES PREPARE TO LEAVE INFORMATION:
Decide where you and the people you live with will go. This could be with family or a friend away from the fire. Plan how you will get there. Tell others where you will go.
– Charge mobile phones and power banks.
– Be ready to take your pets, pet food, pet lead or crate/carrier.
– Pack a bag with a mobile phone charger, enough clothes for five days, important documents (like ID, insurance papers, passports and photos), medicine, cash and keys.
– If you do not drive, call your support service, a family member or a friend to organise transport if you need to leave or want to leave.
– If you find it hard to move quickly, leaving now is your safest option.
– Avoid driving on Boongary Road.
– Keep medications close by.
– Move flammable items away from your house if you can.
– Help others if it’s safe to do so.
– Watch out for firefighters working in the area.
– Do not fly drones around the fire. Drones affect air operations.
– Stay informed:
– Keep checking the QFES Current Bushfires and Warnings website.
– Follow QFES on Facebook and Twitter.
– Listen to your local radio station.
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