Fire crews respond to dozens of fires across Darling Downs and South West Queensland

More than a dozen fires burning across the Darling Downs sparked a warning from the Queensland Rural Fire Service deputy chief officer.

Fire crews respond to dozens of fires across Darling Downs and South West Queensland.

Fire crews across the Darling Downs were under the pump over the last few days with multiple blazes burning across the region.

At the weekend, there were up to 14 simultaneous active fires across the Toowoomba region, Lockyer Valley, Southern Downs and Western Downs.

On Friday afternoon, a fire at Rosenthal Heights in the Southern Downs sparked a watch and act warning for residents in the area.

The warning was soon downgraded to “stay informed”, and was further downgraded on Sunday to “avoid smoke”.

On Sunday, it was one of six “avoid smoke” warnings across the broader Darling Downs region, in Leslie Dam, Thane near Warwick, Laidley, Marmadua near Moonie, and East Cooyar.

A Queensland Fire Department spokeswoman said on Sunday, the fire at Rosenthal Heights was within containment lines and under control.

Another fire nearby at Leslie Dam was also within containment lines on Sunday morning, she said.

North of Toowoomba, fire crews were called to a grass fire in Meringandan, just after 9am Sunday.

The QFD spokeswoman said three crews arrived on scene at 10.40am, to battle two fires alight in the area.

Another three crews were on scene at a vegetation fire at Severnlea on Lofaros Rd, which she said was pretty well under control at noon.

Deputy chief officer of the Rural Fire Service Queensland, Matthew Inwood, said the fires across the region have been as a result of hazard reduction burns, or reignition of other fires from earlier in the week.

“It’s a timely warning that the conditions can change very quickly,” Mr Inwood said.

He said the fires at the weekend were a good reminder to property owners to have their properties prepared before bushfire season.

If property owners were intending on doing hazard reduction burns, he said they needed to ensure they had appropriate fire fighting equipment, containment lines, and that their property was easily accessible to fire crews if necessary.

For rural property owners, he said it was important to make sure that residents had good access to water for fire fighting, keeping the grass around their houses short, their gutters clean and making sure they have a bushfire survival plan.

“Take the time to sit down with friends, family, and loved ones, and know what you would do if there was a fire,” he said.