Police have revealed that since the state of emergency declaration on November 9, 18 people were charged with being involved in a deliberately lit fire and 10 of those were juveniles. Loading Further figures, released following questions from the state opposition, showed 136 juvenile arsonists were charged in 2017 and 2018, with 63 given a warning while 32 faced the justice system. Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington wants juvenile arsonists to "be made to front up, apologise to their victims and even attend a burns unit", but the state government said this already happens. Fire and Emergency Services Minister Craig Crawford said juvenile arsonists can complete a program during which they sit down with bushfires victims and firefighters to talk about fire and its impacts.

"What the Opposition Leader is asking for is already happening now," he said. "More importantly, the programs around youth conferencing and fire fascination, which are the youth programs to help kids in this situation, were cut when the LNP was in office. "Around 80 per cent of youths who commit arson and go through these programs do not re-offend. Around 80 per cent of youths who go to [the] corrections [system] will re-offend." Police acting assistant commissioner Roger Lowe said the majority of the 10 juvenile arsonists charged this month started the fires through misadventure and tried to put the flames out. The Allandale Rural Fire Brigade dampening down bushfires in the Scenic Rim. Credit:Allandale Rural Fire Brigade

The blazes of most concern on Tuesday were at Pechey in the Toowoomba region, Mount Barney and Mount Lindesay near the NSW border, the Scenic Rim town of Boonah as well as Moreton Island. In total, 16 homes have been destroyed during the bushfire emergency with 15 lost at Cobraball on the central Queensland coast and one at Cooroibah on the Sunshine Coast. Queensland Fire and Emergency Services deputy commissioner Mark Roche said he believed at least five homes were lost in the Pechey bushfire overnight, but fire crews had not been able to get into the affected area to carry out damage assessments. The bushfire at Pechey in the Toowoomba region on Saturday. Credit:Nine News Queensland "The positive around Moreton Island is that we are actually doing some back-burning today and that back-burning will tie in the fire," he said.

Loading "Pechey was the concern last night, but we have tightened off the areas around there and focused on protecting Crows Nest." Forecaster Kimba Wong said a peak in the dangerous bushfire conditions was due on Wednesday. "Firefighting conditions will remain challenging through this week," she said. "The winds have dropped back just a touch and they are more onshore for the next couple of days.

"That brings the fire danger ratings down a little bit along the east coast with that moisture around and those more moderate temperatures." On Tuesday, temperatures were forecast to be five to seven degrees above average and the mercury was set to rise seven to 10 degrees above average on Wednesday. Gatton, 75 kilometres west of Brisbane, was predicted to reach a maximum of 37 and 39 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, while Ipswich was expecting tops of 35 and 36. Esk, 65 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, was forecast to hit 35 and 38 degrees on those days while Beaudesert, about 60 kilometres south of Brisbane, was predicted to reach 35 and 37. Brisbane was set for a top of 31 and 32 degrees on those days, the Gold Coast suburb of Nerang was forecast to hit 32 and 34, while the Sunshine Coast suburb of Caloundra was expecting 29 and 31.