Lack of backburn contributed to Sunshine Coast bushfire hazard

A lack of backburning around the Sunshine Coast created a dangerous tinderbox, according to Queensland government documents.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services rush to the Peregian Beach bushfire last month. Picture: Wavell Bush Photography

The ember storm and bushfire that forced an evacuation at Peregian Beach last month, destroying one house and damaging others, followed a similar blaze at the other end of the Sunshine Coast two years earlier.

Internal documents on the August 2017 fire at Caloundra show a lack of backburning around the beachside community created a dangerous tinderbox in an area vastly different to rural bushfires.

It appears a motorist’s discarded cigarette ignited a roadside fire that, with strong winds, spread quickly and forced at-times haphazard evacuations in housing estates where green space had suddenly become a glowing threat.

The documents obtained by The Weekend Australian under Right to Information laws give fresh insight into the ongoing fire threat to communities flanked by the beach and bush.

A ministerial briefing note states that winds up to 50km/h in Caloundra contributed to “the fast spread of the fire, which included spot fires up to one kilometre ahead of the fire front and extreme and unpredictable fire behaviour”.

Minutes of a separate operational debrief for fire crews noted “embers found up to 4km away”. An ember storm also featured in the Peregian fire.

The briefing note states that government land in two areas of Caloundra had been identified for mitigation burns in 2016 and 2017 “however this area was not able to be burned”, perhaps due to “environmental issues”.

But the minutes state that “area had been looked at and due to surrounding area, previous burns etc, it was not identified as a high-risk area”.

The Queensland government has previously confirmed some public and private backburning had been put off due to unsafe conditions.

A new Caloundra subdivision in the evacuation zone experienced traffic congestion because it had only one exit. While fire crews and police communicated well under the circumstances, the minutes show there was a lack of preparedness for evacuation.

SEAN PARNELL