{"id":241382,"date":"2019-08-08T16:45:33","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T06:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=241382"},"modified":"2020-07-18T15:10:50","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T05:10:50","slug":"winds-whip-up-two-fires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/08\/08\/winds-whip-up-two-fires\/","title":{"rendered":"Winds Whip Up Two Fires"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A rural firefighter dampens down a hot spot at the site of the Redgate grassfire on Thursday afternoon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 8, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

A quick response by fire crews helped contain a potentially dangerous fire whipped up by wind at Redgate on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

A worker on a nearby property spotted smoke and sparking in grass near a powerline and transformer and called 000 about 12:30pm.<\/p>\n

The grassfire quickly took off, racing across several paddocks and at one point jumped Redgate Road near Finnemores Road.<\/p>\n

QFES issued a “stay informed” alert to local residents as firefighters worked to contain the blaze.<\/p>\n

Thirteen fire crews, including rural and urban units, had the fire contained by 1:04pm.<\/p>\n

At 3:00pm, several crews remained on site, dampening down the area to make it safe.<\/p>\n

Several units from the Redgate incident were then sent to Cherbourg to help contain a fire which broke out in scrub on the eastern end of Murray Road about 1:55pm.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This fire, burning across a ridge near the old Emu Farm and into a gully near Bjelke-Petersen Dam, was creating a large amount of smoke.<\/p>\n

A QFES spokesperson said that at 4:15pm, five QFES fire crews plus Queensland Parks and Wildlife workers were at the scene, backburning and mopping up.<\/p>\n

The fire had spread about one kilometre along the ridge but no properties were under threat.<\/p>\n

The High Fire Danger rating for the South Burnett will continue tomorrow and Saturday (with a Severe rating for the Darling Downs) before easing slightly on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Residents should take great care when using any equipment outside which could create sparks.<\/p>\n