No end in sight to Queensland fire emergency

Another community was last night ordered to evacuate as the battle to contain Queensland’s fires spread to the Darling Downs.

A fire threatens Eungella in Queensland .

Another community was last night ordered to evacuate as the battle to contain Queensland’s fire emergency spread to the Darling Downs.

Residents at Winfield, who had already faced a false alarm evacuation order last week, were suddenly ordered to leave their district after the fire that started at nearby Deepwater breached containment lines about 60km northwest of Bundaberg.

Three other districts around the state were given “prepare-to-leave” orders, including the small farming settlement of Karara on the Darling Downs about 200km west of Brisbane

Water-bombing aircraft were called in to target the blazes, some of the more than 100 burning across the state that have so far caused one death, destroyed at least four houses and burned out more than 527,000ha.

Prepare-to-leave orders were also issued at Carmila, about 100km south of Mackay, and at Lowmead 30km west of Winfield.

The ongoing fire emergency prompted Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who was touring affected zones, to promise a major debrief about whether authorities had been fully prepared for the conditions.

Fire fighters at Captain Creek, north of Bundaberg. Picture: AAP

Speaking after visiting areas near Mackay, Mr McCormack said locals had complained to him not enough had been done to prepare for the blazes.

“Local people have told us they would like to have seen more backburning done, some management issues done,’’ he said. “That will be discussed when we do a full debrief after the ­response and the recovery efforts have been passed.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Katarina Carroll yesterday said her department had a program of work that involved hazard reduction and containment.

She acknowledged the fire season had “started a lot earlier than expected” and before hazard reduction, mitigation and containment lines work had been completed.

More than 400 interstate firefighters have joined locals battling the fires, which were again fuelled by high winds and temperatures approaching 40C.

At Karara locals said the bushfire threatening their district had started with a lightning strike more than three weeks ago and was thought to have died down.

Local tavern owner Peter Raddatz said: “There’s thick smoke from here to Warwick.

“It’s now about 15km away. It was 20km this morning. We’ve got 24 people here for a lunch and we are not sure if we are going to have to stay or go. Nobody is evacuated yet.

“We’ve got four fire crews ready here.”

Closer to the fire, local grazier Lorraine Welsh, who was damping the roof and gutters on her historic homestead, said she could see the smoke from the fire on her property 1km away.

She said the blaze was from a three-week-old fire that had started from a lightning strike, died down and then ramped up again in the hot windy conditions.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned conditions were unlikely to change, with no significant rain on the horizon before tomorrow.

The bushfire crisis saw its first death on Friday night when a 21-year-old man at Rolleston, south of Emerald, was using a chainsaw to cut down a tree for a firebreak, and the tree fell on him.

Late yesterday a tropical low off the Queensland coast was ­declared as Cyclone Owen but experts said it was unlikely to cross the coast or reduce the fire risk.

Additional Reporting: AAP