Forty-six homes have been destroyed in deadly Queensland fires as authorities warn conditions will continue to deteriorate on Tuesday.
Extreme fire conditions have been forecast for the Darling Downs region, with strong westerly winds and high temperatures expected to accelerate fires and fatigue firefighting crews.
An emergency warning was issued on Monday afternoon for residents along Lucky Road in Tara, west of Brisbane, who were told to leave immediately.
Two people died last week in the fires, including an elderly woman who suffered a cardiac arrest while evacuating her home.
Up to 46 homes, 30 sheds and eight mobile properties have been destroyed, according to the acting deputy commissioner at the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service (QFES), Joanne Greenfield.
As of Monday, there were more than 80 fires across the state, Greenfield said.
The Rural Fire Service superintendent, John Welke, told reporters on Monday that fire crews had taken advantage of cooler weather over the weekend but conditions would worsen on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately we do see some severe deterioration in the weather tomorrow,” Welke said, warning of extreme fire danger for the Darling Downs region on Tuesday, including strong westerley winds “in the vicinity” of 30km/h.
Toowoomba will hit a maximum of 33C on Tuesday, while Tara will peak at a scorching 37C, a Bureau of Meteorology forecast shows.
Welke said Victorian firefighters would join the state’s efforts later this week as the QFES experiences a “tremendous resourcing drain”.
He urged Queenslanders to follow the fire bans in place for most of the state and reconsider performing outside activities such as welding.
“We implore people to be very conscious that our crews are very tired,” he said.
The QFES acting assistant commissioner, Peter Hollier, said emergency crews were hoping for some reprieve moving into Wednesday and the rest of the week.
“We’re certainly anxious in relation to what will happen tomorrow. We’re certainly getting prepared,” he said. “We’re in a relatively good position this afternoon from the information we have to hand.”
Forty-eight people remain in fire evacuation centres, down from a peak of 300, according to the Queensland police acting deputy commissioner, Ben Marcus.
“It is a significant fire. The other issue that we have with Tara was they were also impacted by fire earlier this year,’ he said.
Marcus said police were investigating a number of fires that broke out on the Sunshine Coast on Sunday in places where “there shouldn’t have been an ignition source”.
Police said a fire in Beerwah, in the Glass House Mountains area, appears to have been deliberately lit.
The cause of two other fires in the area has not been determined.
