November 16, 2020
Fire crews were kept busy over the weekend with a number of new fires breaking out, and older incidents flaring up.
At Maidenwell, a helicopter was called in to drop water on a blaze which broke out near Coomba Falls just after 10:00am on Sunday.
At one point, police put out an appeal for people to keep away as would-be swimmers, hoping to cool off in the waterhole, were still heading to the area despite the plumes of smoke.
At 4:30pm on Sunday, QFES reported the fire was under control.
On Monday morning, one fire unit was still at the incident.
- About 11:30am on Sunday, firefighters were called to a grassfire near Back Creek and Cooyar-Rangemore roads at Cooyar. This fire was also creating a lot of smoke in the Cooyar area and at 3:40pm QFES issued an advice warning for local residents as the fire was travelling eastwards. On Monday morning, the area was being patrolled to check for no flare-ups.
- Firefighters were also back in action at the Wooroolin Wetlands on Sunday evening as last week’s fire near Sportsground Road flared up . This was quickly brought under control but motorists were warned to drive carefully on the adjacent Bunya Highway due to the smoke.
- A fire which broke near Pedersens Road at Dangore on Thursday afternoon was still burning over the weekend. On Monday morning there was still one fire crew at the blaze, but no properties were under threat.
- A fire broke out near Dray and Thornside roads at Widgee on Saturday afternoon. This was being monitored by the QFES on Monday morning.
- Fire crews were called on Sunday morning to a blaze near Running Creek Road at Kilkivan. This was brought under control and on Monday morning the area was being patrolled.
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The QFES Bushfire Preparedness Level was increased to Level 3 for the Gympie, South Burnett and Cherbourg council areas at 8:00am on Friday.
It is expected to continue at this level until 6:00pm on Tuesday (November 17).
Level 3 is a predicted Very High to Severe fire danger.
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There is a HIGH fire danger rating for the Wide Bay Burnett on Monday and VERY HIGH for the Darling Downs:
[UPDATED]
