When a ferocious bushfire, fuelled by 50kph winds, powered toward a coastal Queensland town, Sally Pocock was watching Netflix with her headphones on.

Key points: Residents impacted by recent bushfires in Queensland say they didn't have an evacuation plan — but they do now

Residents impacted by recent bushfires in Queensland say they didn't have an evacuation plan — but they do now QFES says people living near the coast are less likely to be prepared for a bushfire because they think it won't happen to them

QFES says people living near the coast are less likely to be prepared for a bushfire because they think it won't happen to them The Red Cross says unprepared residents often arrive at evacuation centres with items like hair dryers but not wallets or medication

At 4:30pm on a Monday, Ms Pocock was oblivious to the life-threatening situation unfolding outside until a policeman's bang on the door.

It took about a minute to leave her Peregian Beach home.

In shock and with no emergency or evacuation plan, Ms Pocock grabbed two items, which did not include medication, toiletries or clothes.

"I grabbed papers and I didn't want to be cold so I grabbed my snow coat," she laughed.

"I thought if I've got to sit in the car all night, I don't want to be cold."

Ms Pocock is now putting together a "grab-and-go" suitcase with essential items. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Kylie Bartholomew )

Barry and Frances McPhee did not have an evacuation plan either.

Mrs McPhee said the couple left their property within five minutes of the warning with "the pyjamas I stood up in, some jewellery and some medication ... that is all".

It was not until the next day when she pondered what they had left behind.

"The papers, that was left behind ... I had to go out and buy clothes, underwear, toothbrush, hairbrush, everything," Mrs McPhee said.

The couple admitted they were "a little bit blasé" about the threat of bushfires due to living so close to the beach.

"So many years have gone by and nothing has happened," Mr McPhee said.

"We haven't had any reason to think about, 'Hey, we should have something ready' — we now have reason to, of course."

The McPhees didn't have an emergency plan before the fire — but they do now. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Kylie Bartholomew )

It won't happen to me

Queensland Fire and Emergency Service (QFES) Acting Assistant Commissioner Michelle Young said she had heard many similar stories since the Sunshine Coast fires.

"The further you move toward the coastline, [a resident] is less likely to have a bushfire plan because people don't think it's going to happen to them," she said.

"If we go more out west ... they're more prepared."

She said residents told her how the ferocity of the blaze and the "raining fire" from the ember attack caught them off guard.

"It was like, 'I grabbed my jewellery and a photo album, and then the dog ran this direction and the kids were that way, and it was like oh my God'.

Michelle Young (centre) says all homes need an emergency plan, especially those with vulnerable residents. ( Supplied: Michelle Young )

"If you'd gone through that village that really got hit by the ember attack ... there were no lights and everything was glowing.

"It was just a wall [of fire] coming at them and the wind behind it was ferocious, 50 kilometres per hour.

"They couldn't see because the power had gone out, the ash was all over [the windscreen] and they had to use their windscreen wipers."

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 32 seconds 32 s Embers were fanned by strong winds, creating a hellish scene on the Sunshine Coast.

Collin Sivalingum from the Red Cross said the "high level of complacency" could cost lives.

"Evidence is very clear, when people perish during an event over the years in Australia, it is not the fact that they have died as a result because of the fires at the homes, it was because they left it till the last minute."

With an early start to the bushfire season, authorities have been warning residents to be prepared — even in communities which were not usually exposed to fires.

"One of the common things we're hearing now from this Queensland fire disaster is that people are saying, 'We have never experienced this before in our community, we never thought the fire would come so fast'."

Residents watch the bushfire raging behind homes at Peregian Springs. ( Supplied: Julie Bristow )

Mr Sivalingum said evacuating a property was highly stressful and that it was a challenge to think clearly and rationally in that state.

He said not being prepared exacerbated that stress and people often arrived at evacuation centres "totally unprepared".

They would arrive without important items such as documents, reading glasses, wallets, phone chargers or medication, he said, while some had turned up with a floor-mounted fan, iron, hair dryer and stilettos.

Emergency kit suggestions: Hardcopy, digital photos or USB

Hardcopy, digital photos or USB Insurance papers

Insurance papers Medicare and health insurance cards

Medicare and health insurance cards Birth certificates, passports

Birth certificates, passports Phone

Phone Prescriptions and medical supplies

Prescriptions and medical supplies Cash, handbag/purse

Cash, handbag/purse Underwear

Underwear Water bottles, non-perishable food snacks

Water bottles, non-perishable food snacks Toothbrush/paste, deodorant

Toothbrush/paste, deodorant Chargers for electronic items

Chargers for electronic items Jewellery, small sentimental items

Jewellery, small sentimental items A plan for pets and their food

A plan for pets and their food Know the radio station and social media pages you'll need to follow for more information For more information, visit the ABC Emergency website

An evacuation plan in action

Peregian Beach resident Judy Adair has an evacuation plan in a notes app on her phone and an emergency suitcase under her bed; she spent decades living in areas prone to natural disasters before she moved to the Sunshine Coast.

"I knew what was on that list … I didn't refer to it, it was in my head and that's what helped me," she said.

"So I knew I had to go: number one, grab the suitcase; number two, out to the office to grab the financial papers; technology was the next one."

Ms Adair, who admitted other areas of her life were not as well organised, said having a plan in place was reassuring during what was an extremely stressful time.

"It took most of the stress out of it because ... I knew as we were driving off that we had everything that we needed.

"For someone like me who is juggling lots of things throughout the week, having a plan is even more important because it overrides everything else when an emergency happens."

The mother of two said the situation was unlike any natural disaster she had experienced.

"The way this just descended upon everyone at that busiest time of the day was something that really puts this into a different category all together."

Mr Sivalingum agreed.

"Unlike flooding and cyclones, when we know the paths and we can prepare, bushfires really take the community by surprise."

The view of the bushfire from Ms Adair's property as the family evacuated their home. ( Supplied: Judy Adair )

Pillowcase Project helping kids prepare

The Red Cross is helping the community be prepared through its Pillowcase Project, which targets children and helps them prepare physically and psychologically for an emergency evacuation.

Children are encouraged to draw items on a pillowcase, then if they have to evacuate, they put the items in the pillowcase and leave.

The program has been delivered to more than 34,000 school children since it started in Australia in 2015 after Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of the United States.

Mr Sivalingum said a $330,000 government grant would help the program reach more than 5,000 Queensland children in high-risk coastal cities from Cairns to the Gold Coast.

"Queensland is the most disaster-prone state in Australia and young people are impacted all the time ... and every year disasters are getting more intense and more frequent."

The Pillowcase Project encourages children to think about the essential items they'll need. ( Supplied: Red Cross )

He said the benefit extended beyond the children.

"They get to take the pillowcase with them home ... and that message goes home to mum and dad," Mr Sivalingum said.

"We know there's a lot of research that indicates once children in school have key learnings, they go home and they talk about it and that influences adults to take action."

Wake-up call brings valuable lessons

More than a week after the Peregian Beach fire, Ms Young said it had been a wake-up call not only for the local community but others who believed a bushfire would not happen to them.

"I noticed my neighbour cleaning out his gutters the next day," she said.

"People are starting to listen to go, 'Wow, we live in a beautiful part of the world but we are surrounded by this beautiful natural bushland and we're not immune to fires'."

Mr and Mrs McPhee have also been proactive.

"We now have things packed in a suitcase packed ready to go ... I have two changes of clothing, all our papers, toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, a couple of photographs and my medication."

Mrs McPhee said the "devastating" experience had put things into perspective.

"All the material things in my home are not worth anything, it was our life."