Smoke warning for Brisbane as bushfire engulfs Moreton Island scrub

It will take days to put out a bushfire in dry scrubland along a Moreton Island walking track, which fire crews said was sparked by a campfire, despite a total fire ban.

The fire was first reported to emergency services just before 10am on Saturday when it began burning out of control near the Eagers Creek campground.

The Rural Fire Service’s acting chief superintendent for the south-east, Neil Parker, said crews and fire investigators were immediately sent to the site.

“We’ve had a massive response in relation to this fire because it was rapidly moving,” Parker said. “We’re extremely concerned about keeping people safe.”

On Saturday morning, the Fire Department warned residents on the northern half of the island – including Cowan Cowan, Bulwer, and Blue Lagoon – about a “large fire” burning along Telegraph Track, a 16-kilometre walking path through the island’s centre.

By that afternoon, residents were told to prepare to evacuate.

The Department of Environment, Tourism, Science, and Innovation said it closed the Telegraph, Tempest, Eagers and Midnight tracks, as well as Blue Lagoon Road, on Saturday.

The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service’s principal ranger and fire incident controller, Jay Lessons, said on Sunday that about 20 campers had been evacuated from the fire’s immediate vicinity and moved to the western side of the island.

He said about 480 campers remained on the island, and most residents had chosen to stay as the warning was downgraded to a “watch and act” level on Sunday.

“We have our trigger points identified, if anything changes … we will ask people to act,” Lessons said.

The fire had burnt through about 640 hectares of bushland, Lessons said, but several dozen crews worked overnight to back-burn nearby scrub, creating a containment line roughly running along Telegraph Track.

“Throughout the rest of today and into tomorrow, we’re aiming to keep [the fire] within our area that we’re burning out – that’s about 2300 hectares [in total] – so there will be more smoke produced today,” Lessons said.

He warned that a change in wind direction on Sunday would sweep smoke across to the mainland and into Brisbane.

Parker said about 32 crews, including 24 from the Fire Department and eight from QPWS, would continue working through Sunday and into the week to extinguish the blaze.

“While everyone’s watching the football, our crews and volunteer parks crews will be out there making sure the community is safe,” Parker said.

Residents and campers who choose to leave have been urged to travel on the western side of the island, if possible, or to use the eastern beach as a road until they reach Middle Road.

If you believe your property is under threat, contact triple zero immediately.

The Fire Department has issued total fire bans across about two dozen local government areas, including a 140,000-square-kilometre area in the state’s far north, the entire south-east, and large swathes of central and south-western Queensland.

The department said hot, dry, and windy weather pushed across from central Australia made the current conditions “perfect for bushfires”, and told residents any open flames – such as campfires – were strictly prohibited.

Contained fires, such as barbecues and camp stoves, or the use of power tools, are still permitted but should be avoided or strictly monitored.

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