About 1,500 people have been displaced, up to 600 homes evacuated and at least four properties lost as unprecedented bushfires continue to burn in the Deepwater National Park region, south of Gladstone.

Key points: Concern fire could cut the only bridge in and out of the Deepwater area

Concern fire could cut the only bridge in and out of the Deepwater area Large bushfires already forced hundreds from their homes, more evacuations ordered

Large bushfires already forced hundreds from their homes, more evacuations ordered The heat will extend toward the west, all the way to the Northern Territory border by Friday

At 3:10pm (AEST), Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) issued an emergency warning urging people in Deepwater, Baffle Creek, Rules Beach and Oyster Creek to leave immediately, as it would soon be too dangerous to drive.

A separate bushfire at Finch Hatton, west of Mackay in north Queensland, also prompted QFES to urge residents to enact bushfire plans or leave the area and not return.

At 2:30pm, a fast-moving bushfire was burning near Mackay-Eungella Road, travelling south-west toward Eungella National Park.

Shortly before 4:00pm, police declared an emergency in Finch Hatton and people in the area were being urged to head to the local showgrounds to register.

The Finch Hatton fire front approaching Eungella Mountain Edge Escape in north Queensland. (Facebook: Eungella Mountain Edge Escape)

QFES incident controller Craig Magick said they were still trying to contain parts of the Deepwater fire and had some concern the fire could impact the only access bridge in and out of the area.

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"The Deepwater area is not contained, the areas to the north-west are contained and also the easterly fire breaks are contained," he said.

"If the bridge gets cut, people will be stuck within that area during the fire.

"We're not planning that that will occur, but ... this fire is quite unpredictable and we're doing everything we can to control this fire and keep it within the current containment lines.

"We are going from house to house and making sure that those houses are secure."

The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed more record-breaking temperatures on Tuesday, including maximums of 43.9 degrees Celsius in Cooktown, 42.3C in Innisfail, and a November record of 41.7C at Townsville Airport.

Earlier on Tuesday, QFES Commissioner Katarina Carroll said the Deepwater bushfire had a perimeter "well over 60 kilometres" and had burnt through about 20,000 hectares.

"The wind has eased [today], it's a northerly, it's given us some ability to put some containment lines in place," she said.

But she said there were serious concerns about the blaze as heatwave conditions persist.

"The end of the week is looking pretty horrendous from our point of view," she said.

Animals perish in bushfires and heat

Deepwater wildlife carer Mark Raiser said he escaped with a kangaroo joey as flames as high as the treetops approached his house.

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Mr Raiser said he was on the phone to emergency services when he realised the fire had reached his front gate.

"I almost had five minutes to grab the joey and her formulas and bottles, some clothes for me and leave straight away," he said.

The 10-month-old eastern grey kangaroo named Emily was orphaned earlier this year when its mother was hit by a car.

Mr Raiser said the fire was "terrifying".

"That's the best way of explaining it, and very fast, intense," he added.

He urged other people who might have stayed in the area not to be complacent.

"Swallow your pride and get out. Even though it's a lot of history for people there, your life's not worth that," he said.

Hundreds of bats dropped dead from heat stress as a result of the heatwave in far north Queensland.

Wildlife carers set up a pop-up "bat hospital" by a large spectacled flying fox colony in the Cairns CBD to give fluids and sugar to surviving animals, while euthanasing the ones unable to be saved.

A burnt-out car and charred trees in the aftermath of the bushfire near Deepwater. (ABC News)

Other volunteers around Deepwater have not been able to check on injured wildlife in fire-ravaged areas, but Rosedale carer Judy Elliot said most would have perished.

"It's a very, very dangerous place to be. The best way to do it is to try and get volunteers to help as well, but it'll probably be the case of just taking the gun in to shoot anything that's still injured," she said.

QFES chief superintendent Paul Smeath said 100 additional firefighters from New South Wales had been deployed to the fire fronts to allow local crews to recuperate.

"The challenge for us is that because of the size of the fire it can generate its own wind, increasing that intensity.

"The important thing is for people not to underestimate the fire because it's-a-little-bit-better day doesn't mean it is a safer fire."

Sorry, this video has expired Bushfires at Baffle Creek and Deepwater

Among the firefighting resources is a Boeing 737 aerial tanker that can dump 15,000 litres of water at a time.

All fire permits have been suspended in the Gladstone area due to the ongoing heatwave.

Cars and buildings gutted by bushfire on a property near Deepwater. (ABC News)

Yesterday Proserpine recorded a temperature of 44.9 degrees Celsius — 13 degrees higher than the November average — while Cooktown in Cape York also reached its hottest temperature ever recorded at 42.2 degrees.

Temperature records were also broken at Cairns Airport, Mackay Airport and Innisfail.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Gabriel Branescu said the lengthy heatwave was surprising.

"It's kind of fitting into what we're looking at … El Nino conditions we were forecasting were more than average conditions for the spring and summer … it's just a surprise like the extent of the prolonged heatwave conditions," he said.

Some of the damage can be seen around Deepwater where four houses have been destroyed. (ABC News)

He said the conditions were not expected to ease anytime soon.

"The bad news from Friday is, we will see those heatwave conditions — severe to extreme — extending toward the west, towards the interior and going all the way to the NT border," he said.

The aftermath of the bushfires at a Deepwater property. (Supplied: QFES)

"The conditions will worsen in the next 48 hours or so.

"The difficulty for us is because the heatwave is across most of the state, I can't afford to release resources from some parts of the state to go to central Queensland, hence why we are going interstate."

Residents may not be able to return home for at least three to four days.