Painful wait to assess Queensland bushfire damage

Residents forcefully evacuated from Deepwater in Queensland face an anxious wait before returning to see if homes have survived.

A water-bombing helicopter prepares to dump on a fire raging at Deepwater. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Residents forcefully evacuated from Deepwater in Queensland face an anxious wait of up to a week before they can return to see if their homes have survived.

Exhausted firefighters have battled a heatwave, low humidity and strong winds as they try to protect homes threatened by the more than 100 fires burning throughout Queensland.

Arsonists have added to the danger, with two men arrested for lighting fires in the Rockhampton area. The Rural Fire Brigade, police and community members fought a grass fire allegedly deliberately lit by a 27-year-old man beside the Burnett Highway ­yesterday morning. On Wednesday, a 26-year-old local man ­allegedly set fire to vegetation at Rockhampton.

Deputy Commissioner Bob Gee said police patrols were targeting arsonists: “Arson can have devastating consequences including the potential for loss of life, the destruction of property.’’

Police are also investigating attempted looting in Gracemere, 10km west of Rockhampton.

Fires continued to burn yesterday near Rockhampton, Cardwell in north Queensland, and on Stradbroke Island, where generators were sent in case the power network failed.

The two most significant blazes were last night around Deepwater and in the mountainous region west of Mackay.

A “leave now” warning remained in place for residents in Deepwater, Baffle Creek, Rules Beach and Oyster Creek.

Helicopters worked in tandem yesterday to draw water from a dam at a prawn farm on the southern bank of Baffle Creek.

Authorities feared the blaze could jump the creek and track towards the town of Winfield.

Residents were forced to leave, some under threat of arrest, on Tuesday and Wednesday as the fire that has burned through the forested coastal region since Tuesday headed west

Some residents said up to 10 dwellings had been destroyed.

A Deepwater resident, identified only as Graham, said homeowners were frustrated by the wait to return home. He lost pumps and a car to the blaze and said his house would have been engulfed if he had not stayed to fight the fire: “I knew this situation would happen ­because they would not let us control the vegetation and do our own backburning.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited fire-affected communities yesterday while Scott Morrison said conditions would remain dangerous.

“I know a number of fire warnings have been downgraded but we’re in for some pretty heavy weather on the weekend,” the Premier said.

Discovery Coast Tourism president Amber Rodgers said the tourist town of Agnes Water would be reliant on government help after the fires: “The biggest impact is yet to come. Christmas bookings have been cancelled.’’