Blazes across New South Wales and Queensland have driven families from their homes, threatened towns and advanced on an explosive storage facility, prompting residents to evacuate.
Dozens of properties have been damaged as firefighters battle to contain more than 200 blazes across the states amid windy, dry conditions.
Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, told reporters on Tuesday evening she had witnessed “very distressing” scenes on the ground, particularly in the hard-hit community of Tara.
“Some people have lost everything,” she said. “I think everybody is feeling absolutely broken with what’s been happening out there.”
The premier praised a “great effort” by crews in the Bundaberg town of Goodwood and Wollangarra, a town bordering NSW.
“Six hundred people live in that town,” she said. “We’ve just been observing the vision and been getting briefings from emergency services.
“This has been an outstanding work. The fire is now going around the town, so the town has been saved.”
Ten emergency warnings were in place on Tuesday evening across NSW and Queensland, with concern growing around the Northern Tablelands town of Tenterfield, on the border with Queensland.
Residents in the township were urged to prepare for an ember attack as blazes burnt along the New England Highway.
Farther south, a fire advancing towards an explosive storage facility at Cooks Gap in eastern NSW prompted residents to evacuate on Tuesday afternoon, with a 1km exclusion zone set up due to the danger of stored materials.
A spokesperson for the RFS said Tenterfield was “burning under extreme fire conditions”.
“It’s a very dry fuel in the landscape … fire crews definitely have some work ahead of them in the coming days,” she said.
One landholder on the east side of Tenterfield said the wind was so strong it was “bending trees over”. He described the sky as an eerie brown, with storm clouds gathering overhead.
The Lismore MP, Janelle Saffin, who represents the area, had attempted to get to Tenterfield earlier today, but thought better of it after the Ogilvie Drive fire cut the highway at Tabulum.
“It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “What a terrible start to the fire season.
“They’re a pretty tough bunch in Tenterfield, but it’s like, ‘oh my goodness’. They’re feeling very apprehensive.”
LEAVE IMMEDIATELY - Tara, Montrose North, Wieambilla and The Gums - Multiple Warnings - fire as at 8:52am Tuesday, 31 October 2023.
— Qld Fire & Emergency (@QldFES) October 30, 2023
For all current warnings, updates and mapping go to https://t.co/vqyJTUPBhe. pic.twitter.com/6QvPzerjG3
Wollangarra resident Donna Ward was speaking to Guardian Australia while helping defend her neighbour’s property when a firefighting aircraft dropped water in front of her.
She said there was fire and smoke all around her, and she had been forced to abandon 350 cattle on her leased property.
“We were out there trying to move them and we were told just to leave the gates open and get out before we got trapped, so I’m hoping that they’re OK,” she said.
“We knew it was going to be a horrible day, with the predictions, but with the wind changing direction you’re just not quite sure which way it’s gonna go.”
About 60% of Tenterfield shire burned in 2019, including entire communities like Torrington and Tabulum.
Wind gusts in excess of 90km/h hit Queensland’s south-east on Tuesday, emergency services said, fanning the ongoing fires.
The Tenterfield mayor, Bronwyn Petrie, said the wind hadn’t yet reached the same “cyclonic” intensity as 2019, but it was still high and dangerous.
Many farmers are either shifting their cattle away from the flames or have volunteered to help firefighters build containment lines, she said.
“If we can just get through today it’ll be a blessing.”
Emergency services have reminded Queenslanders about a current fire ban in place for most of the state amid reports of people attempting to backburn their own properties.
Ninety-eight structures have been lost so far in Queensland’s bushfires, including 53 homes in Tara. Two people have died, including a woman who had a cardiac arrest while evacuating her property.
Some of the affected areas had been affected by fires earlier this year, with some evacuees having lost homes in February.
Emergency crews flagged on Tuesday evening that cooler conditions later this week should provide some reprieve.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Meteorology said once “gusty and dry winds” moved through Queensland, a decrease in fire warnings should arrive for the south-east tomorrow and into Thursday.
From Friday, showers and storms were forecast, which were hoped to provide “some relief”.
Palaszczuk said Victorian and New Zealand emergency crews would also arrive in Queensland on Wednesdayto relieve local firefighters.
“Aircraft – including our LAT [large air tanker] and New South Wales’s – are deployed where they can do the most good,” Palaszczuk said.
Andrew Messenger and Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
