Qld bushfires cause evacuation of Palen Creek prison

A southern Queensland prison has been evacuated in “never before seen” scenes as bushfires close in.

PALEN Creek Correctional Centre near the Queensland-NSW border has evacuated all 133 inmates and staff in “never-before-seen” scenes as a huge fire front bears down on the prison.

“We’re surrounded on all sides by bushfires,’’ prison superintendent Dave Gordon told The Courier-Mail.

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“It was time for us to get out of here.

“It is our job to preserve human life at all costs, it is just too risky to stay.”

With thick smoke billowing into the sky from bushfires less than 6km away at Mt Lindsay, prison bosses made the decision to evacuate all inmates and staff from the low-security jail near Rathdowney.

They left in a convoy of 60-seater buses and prison vehicles to Borallon prison at about 1.30pm.

It is the first time Palen Creek has been fully evacuated.

But it is unclear if the move is unprecedented in the history of the Queensland prison system.

Superintendent Gordon told how he and one other staffer will remain behind at the jail and it is expected the jail will be used as a staging post for fire and emergency services crews to fight the approaching firefront.

Police advised the weather conditions were likely to push the bushfire towards the jail between 4pm and 8pm.

“We didn’t want to be evacuating from here in the middle of the night, it would’ve been too dangerous,’’ Supt Gordon said.