Queensland Professional Firefighters Union general secretary John Oliver warns wet weather has created a catastrophic fuel load

A leading firefighter says persistent wet weather has dramatically raised the risk of a dangerous bushfire season, warning nowhere on the Gold Coast is immune from the danger.

Be careful what you wish for.

After months of interminable rainfall, including a literal cyclonic deluge, it seems natural to pray for a break in the weather.

Unfortunately, that might mean the next natural disaster is around the corner.

With the start of the Gold Coast’s fire season still months away, Queensland Professional Firefighters Union general secretary John Oliver warned the city and southeast region could be set for unprecedented danger with wet weather creating a catastrophic fuel load that could dry out over the winter months.

Mr Oliver said many planned burns had been cancelled due to persistent wet weather, which then allowed further vegetation growth and made it impossible to catch up with hazard reduction targets.

While six months of rain meant the southeast Queensland threat level was only moderate right now, that could soon change should the winter sun finally appear.

And with new developments pushing further into the Hinterland bush, the risk has only escalated.

In fact, the Queensland Fire Department created a new category in its fire danger ratings, with ‘extreme’ now surpassed by ‘catastrophic’.

“The fuel load has increased beyond expectation. With that level of growth, you would expect to see unprecedented fires,” said Mr Oliver, a firefighter with more than 25 years of frontline experience in Queensland.

“The fire service is certainly trying to do controlled burns, as are councils, but you just can’t catch up with this much growth and this much wet weather.

“It’s very difficult. I feel for the fire commissioner trying to get all these burns done and then it keeps raining.

“It certainly should give pause to developers who want to keep pushing for more density in these Hinterland areas. Even the idea of building a cableway in this environment, you would need to keep fires well away from that infrastructure and I don’t know how that is possible.”

Queensland Professional Firefighters Union general secretary John Oliver.

Mr Oliver said changes in weather patterns meant any bushfire in the Hinterland could cause serious impacts on built-up urban areas.

He said the burning of beachside properties in Maui and Malibu should serve as a warning for our own coastal suburbs.

He said embers from a Hinterland blaze could cause a spot fire 30km away, with Springbrook Mountain itself only a 20km straight line from the centre of James Street, Burleigh Heads.

“There’s been some incredible research out of the University of NSW and when you apply that to the Gold Coast, it’s pretty sobering,” he said.

“I’ve fought raging fires down in Victoria and the sound it makes when it’s coming through, it’s like a freight train roaring towards you. They were causing spot fires tens of kilometres ahead and it doesn’t take long to get in trouble.

“Just because you live in an area without bushland nearby, that doesn’t mean you’re out of danger. It’s a good time to think about trimming back bushes and growth near your house, no matter where it is located, because if we have a bushfire with the right - or wrong - winds, we’re all in danger.

“It’s particularly concerning when you look at the density we have, houses are so close together now that it intensifies the risk. It’s even causing issues with our trucks getting down the streets, there are so many cars parked on the road now that we can’t get access.

“Added to that, the interface zone where cities are pushing further out into the bush is making it more difficult. We need to make sure we have sufficient breaks between where houses are being built and the bush. It’s just a new landscape.

“This encroachment is why we have new stations like at Yarrabilba, just near Logan, it’s because the population and density is growing in these zones.”

Queensland Professional Firefighters Union general secretary John Oliver.

Mr Oliver said firefighters have never been so busy, with the service performing a huge number of swift-water rescues due to relentless flooding events.

Given the nation’s increasing number of natural disasters, he said the QPFU was calling for more federal funding and national coordination to best prepare, manage and recover from catastrophic events.

“At the moment, each state runs its own patch, but natural disasters don’t respect borders,” he said.

“States use different trucks, different gear, we don’t have the same response – there needs to be more of a focus on national standards for the future rather than this patchwork approach.

“On the Gold Coast we have this great command centre for a major flood or fire but the radios that Queensland firies use don’t mesh with NSW, we don’t even use the same codes. That’s not what you want when you’re in an emergency, we need to be working off the same play sheet.

“We need something like America’s National Fire Protection Association, which develops all the standards.

“Right now there is some federal involvement and funding but the money just goes in all different directions and never seems to hit the frontlines like it should.

“We need something that will harmonise the states for these major events. It’s not about the day to day operations.

“We are yet to hear from the new Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Kristy McBain, but we are hoping to meet with her soon to discuss federal involvement as part of a strategic initiative rather than a reactive one.

“We don’t need more politicians saying they don’t hold a hose when there is an emergency on, we need to get on the front foot.”

However, when it comes to the politics of the job, Mr Oliver said that firefighters were in a fortunate position.

He said while police were often subject to public abuse, as were paramedics dealing with violence and the effects of drugs, firefighters rarely copped the worst of humanity.

“I think we’ve always managed to stay out of politics as much as we can, and when your job title includes ‘rescue’, it’s easier for the public to see you as a hero,” he said.

“We all feel for our brothers and sisters in other services, we work hand in hand with them. But we have a lot who move from the police over to the fire service and they just can’t believe the difference in public perception.”

Originally published as Queensland Professional Firefighters Union general secretary John Oliver warns wet weather has created a catastrophic fuel load