Firefighters are battling more than 80 fires across the state in unprecedented conditions

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

People have been pulled from the path of a monster bushfire after refusing to flee from the erratic and dangerous inferno that’s destroyed homes and razed thousands of hectares in central Queensland.

Hundreds of firefighters are battling more than 80 fires across the state in unprecedented conditions with scorching temperatures predicted for Wednesday.

Emergency services warn a “horrendous” combination of climate, heat and fire were aligning to create extreme conditions “never seen before in Queensland” .

Andrew Sturgess, Predictive Services Inspector, QFES, said there was the potential for fire storms and house losses.

“We’ll see fire behaviour that we have never seen before,” Sturgess said.

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Queensland Fire and Emergency Commissioner Katarina Carroll said there was no respite in sight.

“We are facing an horrendous 48 hours,” she said.

“There are some 80 fires - eight of concern and a couple of extreme concern - burning across the state and I expect that to dramatically increase in the coming days.”

The worst of the bushfires is the Deepwater blaze which has burnt 20,000 hectares of bush and farming property and destroyed up to four homes since Saturday.

Police have been banging on doors in Baffle Creek, Deepwater, Oyster Creek and Rules Beach, where Gladstone Mayor Matt Burnett says some locals had dismissed warnings to get out.

Not everyone has left though. Jenny Khalu who runs the Baffle Creek Convenience store with her husband Jeff says the fire is close but they cannot abandon the only source of petrol in the area.

Fire crews will aggressively defend the store where Khalu has been working nonstop to make sure crews who pull up leave with a tank of fuel.

“It’s pretty intense, it’s heading for us here at the shop,” she said on Tuesday.

“We’re just digging in here and hoping for the best.”

Exhausted Queensland crews were relieved by the arrival of 100 NSW firefighters on Tuesday and QFES Commissioner Katarina Carroll says she has asked for more help.

Another 100 NSW firefighters will arrive in Queensland in three to four days, with an additional 225 being requested from other states.

The mercury is forecast to hit 40 degrees on Wednesday, along with winds up to 40 km/h and a heatwave that will continue for days.

Severe weather is expected in some parts, with extreme conditions across central Queensland where communities are already under the greatest threat.

“There is no rain in this, there is no respite,” Carroll said.

The power, size and speed of the blaze at Deepwater came as a surprise to locals who say they have seen nothing like it before.

“There’s probably been a combination of people leaving it a little bit late to get out but also not understanding or realising the intensity of the fire,” Rural Fire Service regional manager Brian Smith said.

Seven aircraft, including a massive water bombing plane which can dump 15,000 litres at a time, are working on the Deepwater fire.