Bushfires continue to burn across southern Queensland with 32 homes and more than a dozen other structures destroyed, while hundreds of evacuees nervously wait to be told when they can return to their properties.
Rural Fire Service acting assistant commissioner Peter Hollier said multiple new ignitions had started overnight as a result of storm activity in the state's south.
Rural Fire Service superintendent Wayne Waltisbuhl said the additional fires had pushed crews to their limit.
"Every resource we have available in our region was deployed last night to try and contain multiple lightning strikes across the region and try and contain the current fires that we had," he said.
"It was a really tough night for everyone concerned."
Strike teams from the south-east will be deployed to relieve exhausted firefighters this morning, and attempt to contain the large Tara blaze.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a fire weather warning for the central west, north west and Channel Country districts for Friday.
Superintendent Waltisbuhl said cooler temperatures today would also help morale.
"It makes it a little bit more comfortable for firefighters," he said.
"But we still are in a fire danger area, the southerly wind will still push any flames along."
About 80 bushfires are burning across the state, according to the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service (QFES).
A watch and act warning is current for Kogan, north-west of Toowoomba, where residents are being told to prepare to leave, and Tara, where it's still not safe for people to return.
In the state's north west, a watch and act warning has been issued for Lake Moondarra Road near Mount Isa, with people told not to return to the area.
A watch and act has also been issued for a separate fire at Breakaway, also near Mount Isa, with people in that area instructed to prepare to leave.
Meanwhile, a large fire burning in the Carnarvon National Park and Bandana State Forest is spreading quickly.
Residents of Halliford, near Dalby, have been informed they can return to their homes with caution.
QFES acting area director Mark Wilkinson said the Lake Moondarra fire was an extension of a blaze that began a week ago.
"Extreme wind yesterday caused this to jump the highway," he said.
"Our concern is the eastern side of the road. It's closed now and will remain closed for at least today."
There is no current threat to life or property for the Lake Moondarra fire, but only having one road in and out of the area has stoked fears around access.
"Campers were our main concern, with the local fishing competition on. We wanted to make sure they were aware of this warning," Mr Wilkinson said.
Mr Hollier said a cool change and a shift in the wind direction had done little to improve conditions.
"While conditions will be somewhat cooler on the coast, the threat still remains in the west," he said.
"The situation we're looking at will be strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity.
"[This] is not favourable for the conditions we were looking for to assist us to contain the Tara fire and the fire up into the Carnarvon area."
Too dangerous to return
Western Downs Regional Council Mayor Paul McVeigh said more than 250 people who had left the Tara fire zone were bunkered down at evacuation centres in Dalby and Chinchilla.
"People are very anxious to go back in and see whether their house is still standing and what damage has been done to their property, their livestock and their pets," Cr McVeigh said.
"Unfortunately at the moment, we can't let people go back to that region.
"It's too dangerous — it's the fire but it's also power lines down across pathways and roadways.
"Until we get it absolutely secure we just have to say 'no' to people going back."
Ergon Energy will today move about 100 personnel into Tara from the surrounding region to repair fallen powerlines and rebuild the power network.
Mr McVeigh said the fire that impacted Tara had been "unbelievably dangerous".
"This has been a terrible fire and one of those ones that's created its own energy," he said.
"It jumped from 6,000 hectares burned to 11,000 hectares very quickly, and still continues to burn.
"But country people are very resilient … as a community this is another knock, but I'm sure we'll rebound."
'All hell broke loose'
Some who evacuated their homes didn't leave the immediate area and have started assessing the damage.
Stephanie Petrie said she and her husband knew the fires were getting bad when they could see plumes of smoke from their property north of Tara on Sunday.
She said they had gone to sleep that night thinking the former school bus the couple are living in while building their home would be safe.
"The next morning we woke up at 4:30am to smoke on our bus and fires coming really close." Ms Petrie said.
"All hell broke loose."
Following the evacuation order, the couple moved on from their property but broke down on the side of the road.
"The brakes locked and we couldn't get them to unlock," Ms Petrie said.
"We spent two to three hours on the side of the road trying to get them to unlock with people stopping and giving us spanners and everything."
Unable to free the brakes completely, the couple pushed ahead a few hundred metres at a time knowingly causing further damage.
"We saw the fire. We saw how quickly it was moving. The smoke was building up really quickly and we were panicking," Ms Petrie said.
"It's probably going to cost a couple of grand to fix the brakes on the bus but we got out, that's the main thing."
The couple briefly returned to the property on Thursday to find much of it had been blackened.
"We're lucky we haven't lost absolutely everything," Ms Petrie said.
"We're grateful for the firefighters and what they've done and we can't thank them enough for saving what they saved — it's only a small amount but it means a lot to us."
Relief beyond words
Tara resident Cath Buckley said her home had been spared by the blaze, but knew others in town who had not been as fortunate.
"A couple of people I know have lost their houses," she said.
"It went close but we're just so lucky. We've been really worried about the house but to go and find it still there is just unbelievable."
She said her home's narrow escape from flames was thanks to the actions of firefighters and the two strangers who turned up at her property hours before she evacuated to a friend's house.
"Two people I’ve never in my life seen before, they came down my driveway and when I said 'what are you doing?' they just said 'fire break for you'," she said.
"I don't think I could express what I feel," she said.
"The relief is beyond words."
Story by David Chen, TObi Loftus, Victoria Pengilley and Jessica van Vonderen
Originial story link https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-27/qld-bushfires-destroy-homes-western-downs-emergency-warnings/103027314
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