Crews patrol fire grounds near busy Sunshine Coast estate
Crews will continue to monitor fire grounds near a busy Sunshine Coast suburb and are set to return to the hinterland.
Sunshine Coast
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Firefighters will continue to monitor a blaze near a Sunshine Coast housing estate and will also return to Obi Obi.
A Queensland Fire and Emergency Service spokeswoman said fire crews completed a backburn at 8.20pm on November 2 at Palmview and would continue to patrol the fire ground this morning, November 3.
She said in Obi Obi, fire crews had advised last night there was no fire activity and would return this morning.
On November 2, firefighters swiftly wrestled control of a blaze burning near a growing housing estate at Palmview, as aerial water bombers head to the hinterland.
About 12.55pm Queensland Fire and Emergency Services public information officer Brendan West confirmed crews had control of the blaze and were strengthening containments lines with bulldozers and rural firefighters on the ground.
The two air support units that had been called to the Palmview blaze – about the size of a couple of football fields burning between Daintree Dr and Laxton Rd – had been redirected to Obi Obi to assist firefighters battling a blaze burning near Kirbys Ln.
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The Palmview fire was moving towards Palmview Conservation Park and there was no immediate danger to properties or homes.
According to QFES Public Information Officer Brendan West, it is separate to the original fire that sparked near Peter Crosby Wy yesterday.
“It’s a couple of football fields big and it’s pumping out a lot of smoke,” Mr West said.
QFES had earlier issued a ‘Stay Informed’ advice for Palmview and surrounding areas in relation to the fire at 12.17pm on Thursday, November 1.
It comes as firefighters continue to monitor several fires burning on the Sunshine Coast as downpours on Wednesday afternoon helped efforts to bring blazes under control.
Police have also begun investigating the fires at Image Flat and Kiamba, Obi Obi and Palmview.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service monitored the fire at Obi Obi overnight on November 1 and returned on Thursday.
A Queensland Fire and Emergency Service spokeswoman said an advice level warning to avoid smoke was still current, about 6.30am this morning, November 2, for the fire burning near Schultz Rd and Kidaman Creek Rd.
She said a fire that sparked in Palmview about 1.15pm yesterday, November 1, was also contained and brought under control with the help of machinery and aircraft.
Firefighters continued to monitor that blaze.
The fire at Image Flat and Kiamba, which caused an evacuation of homes on Tuesday, October 31, was extinguished.
“Crews won’t be returning unless there’s a flare-up,” the spokeswoman said.
Fires at Landsborough and Beerwah continued to burn within containment lines.
A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman said officers were investigating the Obi Obi, Palmview and Image Flat and Kiamba fires but there was nothing to suggest anything suspicious about them at this stage.
She said an arson investigation continued into four fires that started in October.
Officers are treating fires that started on October 29 in Beerwah, October 28 in the Beerwah Landsborough area, October 23 on Sattler Rd in Meridan Plains and October 21 on Roys Rd in Beerwah as suspicious.
On November 1, Mother Nature has helped firefighters in the ongoing effort to control fires across the Sunshine Coast including at Obi Obi where residents were preparing to leave.
Incident controller Derek Cameron said an afternoon downpour, with 5mm of rainfall recorded in the area, helped the situation at Obi Obi with winds and temperatures dropping.
“The main fire frontal activity is down on the northern sector down off Kirbys Rd and Slacks Rd down there, we have a lot of crew down there at the moment and they are monitoring,” he said.
“The rain has come down and has obviously dampened some things down and the temperature is dropping and the relative humidity is going up and the wind speed is dropping, so that’s a really good thing for us.
“The weather has obviously helped, but it’s by no means put it out – Mother Nature probably hasn’t saved the day.”
Meanwhile crews are also responding to a vegetation fire at Palmview which is burning within containment lines in forestry near Peter Crosby Way.
No properties are under threat there.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning for a system approaching from Jimna that could bring damaging wind gusts and large hail.
Twelve rural crews were on scene near Kirbys Rd overnight and into Wednesday morning.
Schultz Rd remains under police control, after the blaze had burnt through about 47ha as of 5.30pm Tuesday, with that figure increasing overnight.
Witta resident Alan Severn is concerned about leaving his home to go and see the Sir Paul McCartney concert in Brisbane tonight.
“I’m in two minds about leaving the house to go and see Paul McCartney play tonight,” he said.
“I‘ve lived in Australia long enough and I’ve accepted bushfires, but we’ve never had one this close to us.
“Our biggest fear is that our daughter lives in our place and we want to make sure that if we go away for two days, that she‘s not in any danger.”
Requests for air attack had been made for both mapping and water bombing to assist ground crews fighting the large fire burning near Kirbys Rd towards Schultz Rd and Nothling Ln.
Shifting winds had firefighters on edge, but there was growing confidence if they can manage the blazes today, relief would come later in the week with rain forecast and conditions easing.
Mr West reminded residents a total fire ban was in place across the Sunshine Coast region.
Firefighters warned conditions could get worse and residents should not expect a firefighter at their door.
‘WE SURVIVED IT BUT IT WAS A LONG NIGHT’
Witta residents Janine and Don Wild packed their belongings after seeing the “prepare to leave” advice come through.
“We watched the chopper coming over and dumping the water from local dam and then checked the alerts and realised we had to go home and get an evacuation plan in place,” Ms Wild said.
“We packed the essentials, got the dog ready, and closed the house from the smoke.
“We survived, but it was a long night.
“We made it through and we are just reassessing things this morning to determine what our next plan should be.”
Ms Wild said they were prepared to leave.
“We’ve been ruthless, we have one suitcase, a large plastic box and that’s everything that’s important to us,” she said.
“Apart from our animals and you know your clothing but yeah, it’s certainly worthwhile doing it.”
Earlier, a blaze at Image Flat and Kiamba is expected to burn for days as firefighters continue to try and bring under control a bushfire at Obi Obi.
Police are also continuing an arson investigation into four fires.
Residents of Image Flat and Kiamba were cleared to return home just after midnight on November 1, with the bushfire burning near Beeston Rd within containment lines.
The fire was slow-moving, thanks to subsiding winds, giving firefighters a window to get on top of the blaze overnight.
A Queensland Fire and Emergency Service spokesman said about 30ha had burnt and firefighters remained on scene to monitor the blaze.
In Obi Obi, an uncontrolled, slow-moving bushfire was about 700m from Nothling Lane this morning, November 1.
Firefighters had requested aircraft for mapping the fire and waterbombing this morning, November 1.
The western flank of the blaze was about 1km from Kidaman Creek Rd and the southern flank about 1km from Schultz Rd.
The fire spokesman said 10 crews were on scene at the Obi Obi fire and although the blaze was not contained it was slow moving.
He said one crew continued to monitor the Landsborough and Beerwah fire, too, and it was under control.
A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman said an arson investigation continued into four fires that had started on the Sunshine Coast since October 21.
Officers are treating fires that started on October 29 in Beerwah, October 28 in the Beerwah Landsborough area, October 23 on Sattler Rd in Meridan Plains and October 21 on Roys Rd in Beerwah as suspicious.
The police spokeswoman said it was an arson investigation into four separate blazes.
“There’s nothing to suggest at this stage that it was all done by one person,” she said.
The spokeswoman said anyone with any information about the fires should come forward.
EVACUATION ALERT FOR IMAGE FLAT AND KIAMBA
An evacuation alert was sounded just before 10pm Tuesday, October 31, in Image Flat and Kiamba as crews battled to gain initial access to the fire front.
Incident controllers advised firefighters first on scene had started evacuating Wappa Dam Rd properties immediately, as the alarm was sounded for surrounding areas.
Six homes had been evacuated on Wappa Dam Rd as of 11pm Tuesday, but an evacuation centre was not required as yet.
Twelve firefighting appliances, a mixture of urban and rural crews, were on scene working to protect homes, but the fire remained inaccessible.
The evacuation order covers properties between Upper Hutton Road, Wappa Falls Road, Wappa State Forest and Image Flat Road, including Wappa Dam Road and Beeston Road.
The fire is currently burning near Beeston Rd.
WAPPA FALLS OBSERVATORY READY FOR FIRE
Wappa Falls Observatory owner and astronomer Owen Bennedick was busily preparing for the worst case late Tuesday night.
He said he was prepared with fire lines around his Wappa Falls Rd property and had the chainsaw ready to go.
Mr Bennedick said he’d seen about 50m of the fire front from Image Flat Rd and he was confident the ground crews would be able to bring it under control quickly, with no signs of the fire crowning that he could see.
He said he expected crews would look to bring the fire under control at Wappa Dam Rd.
He lamented previous attempts to set up another local rural fire brigade which hadn’t materialised, as he watched evacuations taking place along Wappa Dam Rd and Wappa Falls Rd.
“At least there’s no wind,” Mr Bennedick said.
“It’s been blowing a gale for 2.5 weeks.”
Mr Bennedick was preparing his property while dealing with the anguish of uncertainty over his son’s whereabouts.
His son Jonothan, 35, went missing from Yandina five weeks ago and was yet to be heard from.
Earlier on Tuesday night residents at Obi Obi and Witta in the Sunshine Coast hinterland were told to prepare to leave as firefighters battle a large fire with the potential to “get worse quickly”.
As of 10.30pm Tuesday that fire was deemed stable, after the winds had died down, enabling crew changes and respite for exhausted firefighters.
Water bombers were expected to attack that fire early Wednesday morning.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services issued a fresh prepare to leave warning about 8pm Tuesday for properties between Schultz Rd, Kidman Creek Rd, Rose Gum Lane and Nothling Lane.
Firefighters are working to control the fire which is travelling from Kirbys Rd towards Schultz Rd and Nothling Lane.
There are up to 20 crews with 49 personnel and two aerial assets fighting the “large, slow-moving bushfire” and protecting homes.
Incident controller Rachel Connolly said the winds had eased slightly about 8.45pm Tuesday, but crews would remain onsite overnight.
She said the fire was still burning down at Kirbys Rd and gusting winds were still presenting plenty of challenges, but at this stage evacuations had not been ordered.
“The wind is changing direction a little bit at the moment and it’s heading up towards Nothing Lane, so that is where houses will be defended tonight, they’re the houses at risk,” she said earlier in the evening.
“We will have drones overnight and we will get the mapping from them.”
She said the fire was burning in inaccessible land.
“Reasonable winds are still spanning it along, so we‘re going to be waiting for it to pop out and see where we can access it and obviously protect homes,” Ms Connolly said.
“It will be a long night and it will go into tomorrow.”
WATCH AND WAIT FOR WITTA RESIDENTS
Witta resident Tim Palframan said it was a “watch and wait” situation.
“We’ve got stuff packed at home.
“If they come along and tell us just to leave, we’ll just go somewhere and stay with family and friends. It’s best to be safe.”
It comes hours after desperate efforts saved a hinterland restaurant from destruction after a blaze broke out in Glasshouse Mountains on Tuesday morning, sparking waterbombing aircraft back into action, as the rest of the state battles significant fires.
The on-site restaurant at the Nungeena Corporation for Aboriginal Women’s Business at the base of Mt Beerwah was threatened just before 10am Tuesday, after fire raced up the hill towards the facility.
It comes as detectives confirmed they were probing four bushfires lit on the Sunshine Coast in the past two weeks.
FEARS FOR RESTAURANT IN FAST MOVING FIRE
Nungeena Corporation for Aboriginal Women’s Business director and site manager Hazelle Mace said she thought their restaurant was going to be destroyed by the fast-moving flames.
“I thought we were going to lose our restaurant and we’ve got two gas bottles next to our restaurant as well which I was worried about, but the fire brigade got here in time. I got up here this morning,” Ms Mace said.
She said her nephew Jarapa Gatt, who lives two doors down from the Streek Rd property, was the one who helped prevent the disaster.
“Somebody must have seen smoke and then he raced up and he started hosing all around the restaurant,” she said.
“He is the one that rang the fire brigade.”
The fire which broke out in Glasshouse Mountains early Tuesday sparked the rapid deployment of waterbombing aircraft and ground crews, as they worked to try and quash the flames quickly, part of their rapid strike tactic being employed by fireys on Tuesday given the nightmare conditions.
Ms Mace said she’d had to race to the property to open the gates and let the firefighting crews in.
“Nobody has been hurt and nobody was on the property,” she said.
“There’s been a lot of fires throughout the last few weeks around Glasshouse and we don’t know what’s done and I’ve just come up now to the property, but none of the buildings were burnt or anything.
“I feel just absolutely devastated, I’m just glad it didn’t touch any of our buildings.”
Landsborough was understood to be contained at present, after more work overnight Monday to dampen down hot spots around the White Gums St and Hardwood Rd area which had been threatened by blazes since a fire which police believe was suspiciously lit on Sunday morning threatened properties, sparking evacuations.
Ms Mace said they’d had fires from the bottom of their 6.5ha property at Mt Beerwah which had “come up the hill pretty quickly through the day”.
“It’s come up the hill from down the bottom, we don’t know what started it,” she said.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services incident controller Dan Sandeman said it was difficult to pinpoint exact areas of concern given how widespread the threat was with dry, heavy fuel loads.
He said the Beerwah and Landsborough areas and west of Maleny and Conondale were patches that had been earmarked as high risk zones.
Mr Sandeman said they’d managed to “throw 13 trucks” at the fire that broke out in Glasshouse Mountains midmorning, as well as two aircraft, which quickly quelled the blaze.
He said another two aircraft were working the Tuchekoi fire while two others were on standby in the region.
Landsborough Rural Fire Brigade incident controller and first officer Mark Jakeman said there was no “no active fire left” in Glasshouse, but quick response crews were continuing to monitor given the hot conditions for any new ignitions.
RETIREE BATTLING FIRE AT LANDSBOROUGH FOR FOUR DAYS
Retiree Clint Jackson has been on the ground battling the fire for four days in the Landsborough area, and was refreshing at the staging point on Tuesday morning before he returned to the fire front.
“I think it is important to keep the community safe, this will be our main aim, as well as to protect properties, livestock, and crops, that’s what we do,” he said.
“We’ve been putting in 12-14 hour days, that’s pretty standard.”
Earlier a Sunshine Coast rural fire chief warned suspected arsonists are not only putting the community at risk but also the lives of firefighters as they head into a 36 degree day firestorm.
North Coast region rural fire service regional manager Craig Magick said the rural fire service and fire and rescue brigades in the Wide Bay and the Sunshine Coast were ensuring they had “adequate manning” for their trucks to ensure a quick response.
He said conditions on the Sunshine Coast had reached a high level fire rating.
“This means fires in these conditions are more difficult to bring under control quickly,” Mr Magick said.
A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman said an investigation continued into the Beerwah blazes that began on October 21 and October 29.
Sunshine Coast detectives and specialist arson detectives from the Crime and Intelligence Command are working together to probe the fire that started on October 29.
Mr Magick said arson was “particularly concerning”.
“It not only puts the community at risk but puts firefighters at risk too,” he said.
He said property owners who had not prepared their properties should do so now.
“Property owners on larger holdings need to ensure they have those fire breaks in place, even having a map of those fire breaks would be handy for firefighters,” Mr Magick said.
Firefighters had been working to bring multiple bushfires under control across the state before conditions were predicted to worsen today, October 31.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the temperature in Beerwah is set to hit a maximum of 36 degrees and in Landsborough 35 degrees.
Qld bushfires: High winds, high temps set to fan flames
Closer to the coastline, the maximum predicted temperatures are 33 degrees in Coolum Beach and Maroochydore.
There are fire bans in 64 local government areas including the Sunshine Coast and Noosa.
For information on how to prepare for a bushfire, read more here.
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