This news report is showing on Channel Nine here this evening. Summer is still a long way off, yet the bush-fire season has started here. The drought continues with no rain forecast till next year.
| 18:49 AEST Sat 26 Oct 2002 | |||||
| Monster flames threaten Qld homes
One home was destroyed and more than 500 people evacuated as 30-metre-high flames raged through south-east Queensland. But authorities warned bringing in specialist fire fighting helicopters from NSW would be a wasted effort, with up to seven separate fires burning on fronts several kilometres long. "You'd need a fleet of helitankers," Emergency Services Minister Mike Reynolds said. Authorities said fires burning in Toowoomba and Tara, both west of Brisbane, were still threatening hundreds of homes and destroying at least three in the past few days. The blazes were fanned by heavy winds measuring 35kph, with gusts of up to 54kph.
"The three critical factors are against us - we have a very low humidity, a very high temperature and we've also got very high winds and also swirling winds," he said. A Queensland Police spokeswoman said 300 people had been evacuated to the Toowoomba Grammar School and the Warrego Highway was closed to traffic as conditions worsened along the Toowoomba range escarpment. Mr Reynolds said one home had been destroyed, two others damaged and another four narrowly saved on Thomas Road in the Murphy's Creek area. A Queensland Fire and Rescue service spokeswoman said while the main fire at Tara was under control, a separate spot fire had broken out 10km west of the township. "The flames at Tara are in excess of 30 metres, so you've got tremendous fire length there but the height of the fire would be a concern to anyone," Mr Reynolds said. He said at 2pm (AEST) six to eight houses were being evacuated in Tara. About 200 people were evacuated from the area yesterday and were advised not to return today. Mr Reynolds said fire coordinators were considering using government helicopters, private helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to dump water on the fires later this afternoon, but that decision rested with the Toowoomba disaster district controller. Rural Fire Service Assistant Commissioner David Luxton said if used, the aircraft would only be effective in the protection of individual houses rather than as a weapon against the fire's full might. "When a fire is of that intensity, you can really only use those (aircraft) in a tactical sense in a very restricted area," he said. Meanwhile, a Queensland Ambulance spokesman warned south-east Queensland's asthmatic residents to carry their medication with them at all times while smoke haze covered the region. | |||||
Cheers, Ozzie