As more than 60 fires rage across Queensland, the Rural Fire Brigade Association chief has warned the state is in the grip of its worst fire season in 70 years. 

The association’s general manager, Justin Choveaux, said the conditions were the result of a “generational fire season that is a force of nature”.

“You can’t stop these ones, no matter how many people you throw in front of it,” Mr Choveaux said.

“The last time we’ve seen the stars line up for a fire season like this was the 1950s.

He said the state would need 250–300mm of prolonged rain to remove the danger.

But the Bureau of Meteorology’s Shane Kennedy warned there was little on the horizon for the remainder of spring and summer.

“The forecast was for an above-average or worse-than-usual fire season for the majority of southern and central Queensland and that’s unfortunately bearing out,” he said.

“It certainly has been quite a bad period, not only for the number of fires but also just how long they’ve been persisting.”

Conditions similar to Black Summer

Queensland’s Assistant Fire Commissioner Peter Hollier has likened the current conditions to those experienced during the devastating 2019 Black Summer bushfires. 

At the peak of the 2019 Queensland bushfire season, firefighters battled more than 90 bushfires at once.

“The Black Summer fires happened somewhat later [in the season] than the period that we’re currently in,” Mr Hollier said.

Loading…

At lunchtime yesterday, Queensland Fire crews were grappling with 63 bush and grass fires from Glenlyon near the New South Wales border to Cooktown in the far north and west to Mount Isa.

More than 97 fire crews were in action, stretched after battling fast-moving and devastating fires.

The most treacherous were in the state’s south west at Tara on Queensland’s Western Downs, which had destroyed 32 homes and killed two people.

A man died on Tuesday night while trying to protect his property in Tara and a woman died on Wednesday after suffering a cardiac arrest while attempting to evacuate.

A never-ending season

QFES Deputy Commissioner Mike Wassing said, for many, last year’s fire season never ended. 

“This week alone we have had over 420 bushfires across Queensland,” Mr Wassing said.

“Particularly in the south west, the crews here have been on this for nearly 11 months.

While much of Western Queensland has seared under extreme fire conditions, the warning level is expected to fall to high on Saturday, then moderate on Sunday except for the Central West and Channel Country, which are expected to remain on high.

In Mount Isa, the town is relying on water-bombing aircraft for the first time as it risks being surrounded by four fires, each started by overheating machinery igniting bone-dry spinifex grass.

Senior Sergeant Jeff Magnus of the District Disaster Management Group for the north west said the record wet season at the start of the year had hindered preparations.

“Then further heavy rain in June and July has prevented back-burning operations so the fuel loads are incredible across the north west,” Mr Magnus said.

Mr Choveaux said he feared what was to come with the state only officially just entering its bushfire season.

Loading…

“Around Bundaberg, they’ve been going every day for two months now,” he said.

“We’re at the end of October and we’re just at the start of the traditional fire season and it’s not going to stop until with get that long, seasonal rain.”

Call to arms for firefighters

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said extra resources were also on their way from interstate and overseas.

She said a focus would be on housing those who had been directly impacted by the fires.

“We are talking to companies that can do the rapid homes, we are looking at leasing caravans, we are looking at everything and pulling out all stops,” she said.

Queensland’s metropolitan firefighters have also received a call to arms to help relieve weary rural fire crews who have been battling blazes since August.

The Queensland Fire Fighters Union’s John Oliver said a notification was sent out to urban crews this week at Brisbane City, the Gold Coast, Logan, and Ipswich.

“We’ve just had calls for strike teams, those wishing to go on deployment, to help those teams,” Mr Oliver said.

Firies caught ‘on the back foot’

Mr Oliver said the state was severely under-prepared for this bushfire season.

“This event is just at the start, pending rain, but it’s completely foreseeable and it’s now happening almost every year,” Mr Oliver said.

“What I have seen is a lack of that particular preparation and I think the rural fire service has been caught well and truly on the back foot, especially their leadership team.”

He welcomed the news that more crews would be sent to help fatigued firefighters.

Commissioner Hollier said while he did not have the exact number of crews on the ground, firefighter numbers would be increasing over the coming days.

“We’ve certainly been increasing our capability yesterday and today,” he said.

“We are going to be reaching out to the national resource centre to see what it is that we may be able to access from some interstate help.

“But primarily to try and put some capability back into some local areas to give some respite.”