Superintendent Peter Bradow reveals inside story of how Wallangarra town was saved from fire

With a ferocious bushfire raging towards the town of Wallangarra, one firefighter made a decision that helped save the lives of 600 people.

A top Queensland firefighter has revealed how he was forced to tell people in the line of the ferocious Wallangarra bushfire to bunker down instead of flee – a tough call that helped saved more than 600 lives and a small rural township.

The NSW border town was just minutes away from devastation on Tuesday when the out of control bushfire approached metres from homes.

Just four homes were lost, but hundreds of lives were saved from the firestorm which tested even the most seasoned fire fighters, who the Queensland Premier has dubbed “heroes”.

South Western Region Superintendent Peter Bradow was in charge of the fire assault on Tuesday, and spoke to The Courier-Mail about how they helped save the town from a blaze he couldn’t “dream up”.

“It was like a training exercise, where you just keep getting thrown another problem. But this was real,” he said.

Supt Bradow was in charge of co-ordinating a team of people working out of the regional operations centre in Charlton to provide resources to bushfires, including air and ground crews.

Videos showing the QFES response to major bushfires at Wallangarra

The Wallangarra fire started from a dry lightning strike earlier this week, but Tuesday’s hellish bushfire conditions turned it into a deadly firestorm.

Temperatures went up, winds soared to more than 70km/h, and nearby fires in New South Wales created their own wind and weather influencing the Wallangarra blaze.

Despite relentless water bombs, fire moved rapidly down hills from the west.

Supt Bradow issued a “prepare to leave” warning for the township at 1.25pm.

But the fire started spotting more than 800m ahead pushed by ferocious winds, moving rapidly towards homes.

“We had air mapping, and the spotting was starting to happen, it was moving the fire very fast.

“As quick as we would plot it, you would see fire starting further ahead.

“Then we started to see an ember attack on the township.”

Heather and John Grasso captured these photos for fire and smoke overtaking Wallangarra on Tuesday, October 31, 2023.

Thirty minutes later, Supt Bradow made the decision to issue a “leave immediately” warning.

The fire was moving quickly, and Supt Bradow had to think even quicker.

An urgent call went out to bombing aircraft fighting blazes in NSW to assist with multiple drops of flame retardant to suppress the flames and steer them around the town.

“At the last minute we were desperate,” he said.

Without the help of that large aircraft and other small ones, Supt Bradow said “we may have had a slightly different outcome” regarding how many lives and how much property was lost within the town.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Acting Superintendent Peter Bradow.

Despite the help from above, fires from the south still impeached the New England Highway – the road to safety for residents told to evacuate.

“I had concerns we had already told them to leave and when we looked at mapping and the information we had coming in my concerns were we were going to be pushing them into danger,” Supt Bradow said.

“I had to make a decision where the risk was going to be less to keep them in their shelters and manage the fires starting around the township.

“They would have been pushed into danger and once we could see that fire moving at the same pace, there would be nowhere else for them to go.”

Videos showing the QFES response to major bushfires at Wallangarra.

Supt Bradow issued a “seek shelter” warning at 2.18pm- eight minutes later.

Residents bunkered down as spot fires flared up around them, with just over 40 fireys working to defend homes through the night and into Wednesday morning.

“When you look at the potential, it’s not as many (fireys) as I would have liked there but that’s all we could get there.

“We moved everything from Warwick down into that area, but it was so quick we had to just keep sending resources and hope that the road wasn’t going to be impacted.”

Four homes were lost, but hundreds of lives and homes were saved.

Residents were allowed to return to their homes on Wednesday morning.

Supt Bradow, who has been in the service for 28 years, said he’d never seen another event like it in Queensland.

Videos showing the QFES response to major bushfires at Wallangarra.

“(Tuesday’s) weather event was something you couldn’t dream up for anyone to deal with.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk heaped praise on the quick-thinking firefighters and aircraft pilots who scrambled to defend the small Queensland community.

“The efforts of firefighters on Tuesday to save the town of Wallangarra were magnificent,” she told The Courier-Mail.

“They put their own lives on the line in horrendous conditions to save lives and property and they should be thanked and commended by all Queenslanders.

“They are true heroes.”

Supt Bradow said he, and his colleagues, didn’t see themselves as heroes.

“This is what we get paid for, we are here to protect the community, we train for this stuff.

“It’s a job we have chosen to do.”

Originally published as Superintendent Peter Bradow reveals inside story of how Wallangarra town was saved from fire