February 21, 2023
Local firefighters are begging Burnett residents to take extra care over the next two days with risky fire weather predicted.
Inspector Andrew Marnie, manager Bushfire Mitigation for the North Coast Region, said the Bureau of Meteorology was predicting a high fire danger for the North Burnett and a medium risk for the South Burnett.
The northern parts of the South Burnett council area would be at the most risk.
Insp Marnie said the conditions were unseasonal so residents should stay aware of what the weather was doing.
He urged people to rethink lighting stacks or burning off rubbish, and to be extra careful if doing welding outdoors, grinding, slashing or anything likely to produce a spark.
For example, the recent fire near Miles – which burnt out thousands of hectares – was started by an angle grinder.
“The weekend before last we had several fires in the South and North Burnett, and a number on the coast,” Insp Marnie.
When the QFES investigated the causes, these included burning leaves or rubbish in a 44 gallon drum or a Besser block firepit, and burning a stack of logs without a firebreak.
There were also fires which had been lit without a permit.
“If it’s over two metres in any direction, please contact your Fire Warden,” Insp Marnie said.
“The permit does two things. It provides some protection and guidance for the land owner, and when someone rings 000, our Fire Communications Centre operators will look at where they have permits active.
“If they’ve got an active permit in the vicinity of the 000 call, they will then call the permit holder.
“The permit holder can say ‘yes, I’ve lit up and I can’t see any other smoke in my area’, or ‘hang on, there’s some smoke over there …’.”
This provides some “checks and balances” and can stop Rural Fire Brigade volunteers being activated for a false alarm.
“So please get a permit and adhere to the permit conditions,” Insp Marnie said.
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South Burnett fire crews have been kept busy lately with fires away from the local region.
Insp Marnie said the North Coast region had two strike teams currently working in the South West Region, which has experienced some serious fires in recent weeks.
And in another incident, three urban and three rural fire crews from the South Burnett were called to a large fire burning near Fairyland and Burra Burri, west of Durong, last week.
“Those guys did an amazing job on not much notice. They went out about 7:00pm or 8:00pm and finished up at the fireground at 5:00am.
“The South Burnett has been providing support at short notice into the South West.”
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Fire crews were called to a burning vehicle on Boonenne-Ellesmere Road at Taabinga about 1:45pm on Tuesday.
The vehicle was destroyed in the blaze.
Police investigations are continuing.
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