Residents stand and fight as fire swallows Fraser Island

Residents of a small Fraser Island town who are refusing to leave their homes as a bushfire bears down on them face a tense 24-hour wait for a forecast wind change.

RFS volunteers on Fraser Islander backburning near Happy Valley on Monday. Picture: Damian Huxham

Residents of a small Fraser Island town who are refusing to leave their homes as a bushfire bears down on them face a tense 24-hour wait for a forecast wind change that may ease a crisis that has been building for weeks.

Even as flames jumped containment lines 1km from their homes at Happy Valley on Monday and residents were ordered to take their cars to the beach, about 50 people stayed put to protect their properties from a fire that has burnt half of the World Heritage-listed island.

Firefighters say only heavy rain will fully extinguish the fire that has burned on the island since mid-October but the forecast wind change may provide some respite.

As of Monday, there were 90 personnel on the island assisting with fire management, along with 38 vehicles and 17 aircraft.

The fire has burned to the beaches. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

A Boeing 737 on loan from the NSW Rural Fire Service made two 15,000-litre dumps on the blaze, helping to keep it from homes after flames jumped containment lines.

Happy Valley resident Elspeth Murray said: “Things began to get serious at 2pm on Monday, and we were told ‘get your cars to the beach’.

“(Fraser Island Retreat manag­er) Darren was left making sandwiches for the firefighters. This is the best community.”

The decision to stay comes a year after residents were told their little town was undefendable from bushfire. The warning spurred the town to action and a plan driven by three senior residents over the past 12 months appears to have had ­extraordinary success.

Far from admonishing the residents for failing to leave on Monday, Queensland Fire and Emerg­ency Services was “comfortable” with their decision to stay put, pointing to their exceptional fire readiness plan.

Ms Murray said they started months ago, undertaking “cool burns” in the winter to reduce the alarming build-up of dry veget­ation that threatened to turn the township to ash.

Volunteer firefighter Winston Williams, who also designed the residents’ hazard reduction plan. Picture: Elspeth Murray

“It’s taken a lot of lobbying to improve the hazard reduction (on the island),” Ms Murray said. “Everyone from the traditional owners, the parks and wildlife service, the Department of Natural Resources, the Fraser Coast Reg­ional Council — all these bodies have an interest in land around the area, and we had to negotiate with them to put in a decent fire break.”

As bushfires crept closer to Happy Valley, heavy mulching, backburning and debris clearing increased their confidence of keeping the blaze at bay. The forecast wind change was expected to push the fire back in on itself.

Ms Murray said it was an anxious time for all involved but they were confident in their plan, designed­ by ex-rural fire service ­inspector and long-time island resident Winston Williams, ­retired logistics officer Scott Bell and Happy Valley Rural Fire Brigade first officer Darren Gorlick.

“Winston gave us confidence,” Ms Murray said. “He told us we could do this and we are.”

Her enthusiasm was shared by QFES Chief Superintendent James Gill, who praised the residents’ level of preparedness.

“It’s a very good plan, it’s robust­,” Mr Gill said.

Queensland Premier Anna­sta­cia Palaszczuk has ordered a ­review of the response to the fire, which began as an illegal campfire in the island’s north on October 14.