Police are searching for those responsible for deliberately lighting a series of fires that saw dozens of homes come under threat in Far North Queensland.
More than 100 firefighters were called to Chewko, near Mareeba, yesterday afternoon after 12 fires were lit along a road.
Hundreds of hectares of land were burnt, including extensive lime, lychee, mango and sugar cane crops.
Rural Fire Service Queensland area director Neil Parker said the fires were all lit within an hour, and containment efforts were continuing.
"We had 100 firefighters out there and landholders," Inspector Parker said.
"A lot of them were on foot, trying to put out fires out with knapsacks on their back out in the middle of nowhere.
"There were about 25 structures under threat, and fortunately, we didn't lose any.
"If anyone has information contact Crime Stoppers. We have fire investigators out there with the police and we are looking for any information."
Police declared an emergency declaration under the Public Safety Preservation Act at about 6pm, which was later revoked.
The fire spread near the grounds at Lotus Glen Prison, with correctional staff and fire crews forced to fight off the flames.
Crews are still patrolling containment lines, with assistance from a helicopter conducting water bombing.
Livelihood lost
Joe Bacchion, his wife and three young children live on Chewko Road and have lost nearly 6,000 lime trees and 600 lychee trees as well as their irrigation infrastructure in the fire.
After fighting the fire for hours, Mr Bacchion was relieved they were able to save their home and prevent the fire spreading to other nearby residences.
But he was devastated to lose what he estimated to be more than half a million dollars' worth of trees.
“(We’ve) got to pull them all out, start again. They’re completely burnt; they’ll never return from that,” he said.
“We've been around all morning, having a look at the damage, and trying to work out how we're going to either start again ... or whether it's worth doing it again.
“If you were to replant all the trees you’d need a good five or six years, before you can get an income off them again, and say, five to 10 years, by the time you can get it all up and established again.
“I just don't know what I can afford it at the moment.
“Obviously, there's some selfish people out there who think it's good to just go and burn a paddock full of grass or burn someone’s cane paddock.
“What can you do? The law doesn’t scare these sort of people, so they keep doing it.”
'It could have been devastating'
Sugarcane farmer Claude Santucci lost eight hectares of cane in the blaze and fought the flames alongside firefighters and neighbours.
"I'm cranky and disappointed that there are individuals out there who carry on with this sort of activity for whatever reason," Mr Santucci said.
"It's really disappointing that we have members of society today that carry on like this and will put people's lives, property and livelihood at risk without giving it a second thought.
"It could have been devastating. I could have lost the whole farm, houses sheds and equipment."
Banana farmer James Howe, who lives on Chewko Road, said they were able to contain the fire in time.
"We had been doing all our back-burning with the necessary permits, and I hadn't taken all the gear off the ute," Mr Howe said.
"I was lucky we had everything ready to go when I saw the smoke, we were able to catch it in time."
The Queensland Police Service says it is investigating the cause of the blaze.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.
