Southwest Queensland is expected to face a catastrophic bushfire risk over the coming months, with towns such as Goondiwindi, Inglewood, Yelarbon, Texas and Maidenhead in the danger zone, according to the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council. <\/p>\n
The developing threat follows a scorching start to Spring for Queensland which experienced a brutal four-day heatwave late last week, as temperatures soared above 37C in parts of the state. <\/p>\n
Above average temperatures are likely across most of Queensland during Spring, contributing to the increased fire risk.<\/p>\n
According to AFAC seasonal bushfire outlook for Spring, the increased risk of fire in the Goondiwindi region has been driven by recent below average rainfall and dry conditions, while a build up of vegetation after several wet years adds to the risk.<\/p>\n
Goondiwindi Regional Council Mayor Lawrence Springborg said he had serious concerns about the conditions. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had here five or six wet years in a row which is very rare \u2014 that only happens once a generation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we\u2019ve now got vegetation built up, we\u2019re in a drying out phase, it could still rain and basically moderate the risk again, but that\u2019s in the lap of the Gods or Mother Nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very serious issue for us.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mr Springborg said he was particularly concerned about the build up of vegetation on state land, calling on the government to be good stewards. <\/p>\n
\u201cSince the drought broke in 2020, I\u2019ve been extraordinarily concerned with the build-up of vegetation in our region, particularly on state lands,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got an enormous amount of state land here \u2026 my call on the state authorities \u2026 is they need to be good neighbours, they need to be good stewards of their land.\u201d <\/p>\n
Rural Fire Service Queensland Chief Superintendent Shaune Toohey, who is the assistant chief officer for the Darling Downs District, said authorities were keeping a close watch on the area. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is one of our driest spots that we have in the southwest region,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Mr Toohey compared the lead up to this bushfire season to the 2015 and 2017 seasons, which were marked by intense El Nino-driven heatwaves, severe droughts and destructive fires. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a lot of rain around 2011, 2012, we\u2019re heading into that area where we\u2019re starting to get that trend of drier weather come through,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Minister for Fire, Ann Leahy said the state government would support Queensland firefighters. <\/p>\n
\u201cSouth West Queensland is facing a high bushfire threat with dry conditions on the ground, but our firefighters are prepared for the upcoming fire season, and we are asking Queenslanders to do the same,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Southwest Queensland is expected to face a catastrophic bushfire risk over the coming months, with towns such as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[194,195,41183,138870,155140,155126,155129,155152,76669,155151,38151,57127,155149,155154,1382,155159,111891,45070,54570,22,21,43100,155109,4445,155162,155125,155119,155136,155142,153097,35884,844,155153,155155,155138,13055,20088,155113,62483,31392,20338,155132,155139,155123,155115,155130,47263,35860,155121,212,155110,38832,4442,40829,155146,40750,155135,155131,155161,155112,155150,155157,71802,155158,155114,33636,155117,60094,155111,155120,36643,155128,133723,151341,65696,41022,155147,155118,155133,155160,155122,155148,23380,39477,155145,155134,129751,40772,155156,39917,155127,39833,155137,37964,155144,40686,47015,155124,155108,111949,155143,38932,133757,155141,155116],"class_list":["post-90203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-194","tag-195","tag-41183","tag-37c","tag-a-brutal-four-day-heatwave","tag-a-catastrophic-bushfire-risk","tag-a-close-watch","tag-a-drying","tag-a-generation","tag-a-high-bushfire-threat","tag-a-lot","tag-a-row","tag-a-scorching-start","tag-a-very-serious-issue","tag-above-average-temperatures","tag-above-average-temperatures-and-years","tag-afac","tag-an-enormous-amount","tag-ann-leahy","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-authorities","tag-average-rainfall-and-dry-conditions","tag-average-temperatures","tag-bushfire-seasonrural-fire-service-queensland-chief-superintendent-shaune-toohey","tag-catastrophic-bushfire-risk","tag-catastrophic-bushfire-season","tag-catastrophic-bushfires","tag-destructive-fires","tag-drier-weather","tag-dry-conditions","tag-fire","tag-five-or-six-wet-years","tag-good-neighbours","tag-good-stewards","tag-goondiwindi","tag-inglewood","tag-intense-el-nino-driven-heatwaves","tag-late-last-week","tag-line","tag-minister","tag-mr-springborg","tag-mr-toohey","tag-my-call","tag-our-driest-spots","tag-our-firefighters","tag-our-region","tag-parts","tag-phase","tag-queensland","tag-queensland-firefighters","tag-queenslanders","tag-rain","tag-risk","tag-seasonal-bushfire-outlook","tag-serious-concerns","tag-several-wet-years","tag-severe-droughts","tag-south-west-queensland","tag-southwest-qld","tag-southwest-queensland","tag-southwest-queensland-towns","tag-spring","tag-state-land","tag-state-lands","tag-temperatures","tag-texas-and-maidenhead","tag-that-area","tag-that-trend","tag-the-2015-and-2017-seasons","tag-the-area","tag-the-assistant-chief-officer","tag-the-australasian-fire-and-emergency-service-authorities-council","tag-the-build-up","tag-the-coming-months","tag-the-conditions","tag-the-danger-zone","tag-the-darling-downs-district","tag-the-developing-threat","tag-the-drought","tag-the-gods-or-mother-nature","tag-the-goondiwindi-region","tag-the-government","tag-the-ground","tag-the-increased-fire","tag-the-increased-risk","tag-the-lap","tag-the-lead","tag-the-qld-towns","tag-the-risk","tag-the-risk-bushfire-season-pollgoondiwindi-regional-council-mayor-lawrence-springborg","tag-the-same","tag-the-southwest-region","tag-the-state","tag-the-state-authorities","tag-the-state-government","tag-the-upcoming-fire-season","tag-their-land","tag-this-bushfire-season","tag-this-spring","tag-tinderbox-conditions","tag-towns","tag-vegetation","tag-vegetation-build-up","tag-yelarbon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}