Beerwah, Landsborough bushfires: Good conditions assist fireys in battling blaze

Specialist arson investigators are probing a Sunshine Coast fire that forced an evacuation on Sunday that they believe was deliberately lit.

Police have launched a probe into the cause of the Landsborough fire, which forced a resident evacuation on Sunday afternoon.

A Queensland Police Services spokesperson said early investigations suggest that the fire was deliberately lit.

“Sunshine Coast Detectives and specialist arson detectives from the Crime and Intelligence Command have commenced investigations into a fire at Beerwah on Sunday, October 29, which appears to have been deliberately lit,” the spokesperson said.

“Initial information indicates the fire started near Stokes Road around 10.30am.

“Investgators are appealing for anyone with further information to contact police.

“The cause of two other fires in the area are still undetermined at this time.”

It comes after residents in the Hardwood Rd area in Landsborough were told to evacuate after the fire flared up on Sunday afternoon, before being given clearance to return home later that evening.

Firefighters prevented the blaze from damaging any homes.

Leave now orders were sent out by firefighters about 3.30pm Sunday, October 29, after a fast-moving bushfire sparked up, having first flared late Saturday night.

By late Sunday firefighters had cleared residents to return home.

Landsborough Rural Fire Brigade first officer and incident controller Mark Jakeman said good conditions on Sunday night into Monday morning aided the firefighting effort.

“We had very favourable firefighting conditions, so crews got a good handle on everything last night,” Mr Jakeman said.

“Currently, we have lots of crews on scene just monitoring, making sure nothing kicks off and has a run, but we are expecting good conditions today.”

Leslie and Jack Julius lend a hand at the Landsborough Rural Fire Brigade station.

It comes after Queensland Fire and Emergency Services assistant commissioner Gary McCormack said firefighters were preparing for conditions to “deteriorate quickly” into Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Federal Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace MP has praised firefighting crews for their efforts to protect communities in his electorate.

“I want to thank all the firefighters, police officers, paramedics, volunteers, and support staff who have been working tirelessly to protect and assist our communities,” Mr Wallace said.

“They have shown courage, dedication, and professionalism in the face of danger and adversity.”

Community members also volunteered their time to assist crews, as a public call out was made for donations to keep firefighters fresh.

Volunteers had turned up at the brigade station to assist with preparing food for fireys battling the blaze, while those needing to flee had been directed to the old hall on Old Landsborough Rd.

On Sunday, Jack and Leslie Julius went down to the Landsborough Rural Fire Brigade Station to give their community a helping hand.

“There is quite a large fire in the local area and we just wanted to see if we could help out, the more hands, the better,” Mr Julius said

“We thought we’d go come in help, to help feed the troops when they come in from the fire ground.”

Glasshouse Chamber of Commerce president Tamara Hazelden also encouraged locals to make donations of food and water to support the firefighting effort.

“We are asking for donations of anything that is wrapped in plastic, non-perishable items, Powerades, water, anything they can have on the run,” she said.

“Please contact me beforehand if you would like to make a donation.”

Donations can be dropped off Shop 9/35 Swan St, Beerwah.

To make a donation, contact Ms Hazelden on 0423 766 763

An Australia Zoo spokeswoman said the facility was liaising with firefighters to monitor the situation, after the blaze had burnt to within about 800m of the rear of the zoo on Saturday night.

“Australia Zoo is currently safe and we will continue to monitor the situation closely by working with the emergency services,” the spokeswoman said.

“We also have well established fire protocols, extensive equipment, and trained personnel here at Australia Zoo.”

Roadblock in place at entrance to Hardwood St.

The spokeswoman thanked the efforts of all firefighter and State Emergency Service personnel involved.

Earlier, Landsborough Rural Fire Brigade first officer and incident controller Mark Jakeman said a fire had “just flared up” in a compartment in that area.

“At this stage crews are working to contain it, allowing it to burn out to the compartment and burn out to Hardwood Rd,” Mr Jakeman said.

“As conditions worsened during the day during the heat of the day, the winds picked up and allowed that fire to start making progress towards those structures, so we made the call to enact to leave immediately. “

“Properties aren't directly under threat, but it's just good for those residents that don't need to be in that area and that are happy to leave voluntarily, it’s safe for them not to be there at this stage.”

Earlier on Sunday residents recounted their brush with disaster overnight after fierce bushfires barrelled towards several Sunshine Coast hinterland townships as fireys prepare for the threat to intensify.

Landsborough resident Ben Marshman was coming back from a day trip when he saw the smoke billowing from the township.

Landsborough resident Ben Marshman.

He said the neighbourhood was counting its blessings on Sunday.

“I hit the top of the range and saw a lot of smoke and I thought to myself, gee, it looks like Landsborough is on fire,” he said on Sunday morning.

“It got quite smoky and then we started seeing a few flames licking up and thinking we better get a few things together and get out of here, you know, and then we‘ve seen the Watch and Act warning.

“The neighbours were all out in the street, then the fireys and cops came down the street telling us what was going on, which was quite good of them, they did a really good job.

Mason Reynolds captured this image of the fire approaching his home overnight.

“We’re just basically checking everything out this morning, there is still lots of smoke and everyone is thanking their lucky stars that everyone is okay.”

Landsborough resident Adam Reynolds said his daughter alerted authorities of the fire.

“She was coming home from work about 2pm yesterday afternoon and she noticed a bit of smoke in the forest, which we keep our eyes out for,” he said.

“Next thing she was on the phone to the fire brigade and they didn’t know nothing about it, so she reported it then and within 15 minutes it doubled in size.

“This is what it’s come down to now.”

Landsborough resident Adam Reynolds had firefighters at his fence line defending the property.

He added that the weekend “has felt like four days”.

“It’s been pretty scary actually, the forestry is about 10m from the back of our fence line, it came through quite quickly,” he said.

“We had police at out door who advised us to leave, so we got ready and packed up most of our stuff, we didn’t have to leave, but we were ready to.

“There has been planes and helicopters flying over non-stop, it has been a long weekend, it has felt like four days.”

Mr McCormack said Saturday afternoon’s fire had “escalated very quickly” and more than 30 crews had worked through the night to protect properties, successfully preventing the loss of any homes or lives.

He said the fire had intensified of an afternoon when the heat of the day hit and local fire bans were in place across the entire Sunshine Coast and Noosa regions.

Incident Controller and First Officer Landsborough Rural Fire Brigade, Mark Jakeman.

Landsborough Rural Fire Brigade first officer and incident controller Mark Jakeman said the blaze had been about 800m – 1km away from the rear of Australia Zoo at its closest point.

“Our main impacts were Hardwood Rd, Pine Edge Dr and Plantation Circuit, Landsborough, that’s where we were doing the structural protection last night,” Mr Jakeman said.

“Currently, crews are working to strengthen containment lines that we have in place.”

Mr Jakeman said the head of the fire was now under control but crews were still working to bring several areas within containment lines.

“We‘re now working to strengthen the flanks to stop any further spread before deteriorating conditions on Tuesday,” he said.