Qld bushfires: Fears dry lightning will spark further blazes

But there are fears dry lightning in storms predicted over the weekend could spark more fires across the Queensland.

Crews from Canada, New Zealand, South Australia and Victoria flew into the south east of the state to back-up exhausted Queensland firemen to bring the bushfires that have plagued the region under control.

It comes as police confirm there has been three cases of looting in the Western Downs following the horrific fires that have destroyed dozens of properties in the Tara and Wieambilla regions.

And while conditions have slightly eased, 174 appliances are still battling blazes across Queensland.

“We’ve got fires from Calton Hills, to Irvinebank, to Lowmead, back to Goodwood, Sarabah, down to Dalveen, back to Tara and even the Carnarvons,” Rural Fire Service Chief Superintendent Tony Johnstone said.

“Crews are working tirelessly to make sure they have containment lines in place protecting structures and making sure community messaging is going out.”

He asked people “to work with us”, and be aware of the weather conditions and how their activities may impact the fires.

“It’s going to get hot and dry, people are going to get hydrated so look at your activities, putting in a grader brake, slashing could still start an unauthorised fire.

“I know people are looking forward to the storms, when storms come through we could end up with more dry lighting.

“With storm activity we see fresh air introduced into fires which could cause them to blow out … if you don’t need to be near a fire please stay away.

“Through the night the crews are going to be working tirelessly to make sure the fires are contained ahead of any weather patterns over the weekend.”

Mr Johnstone said a number of people had suffered burns and become affected by smoke as they fought fires themselves.

“If you do have to combat a fire for some reason make sure you have some long sleeves on, stay hydrated and well visible.”

“Be aware firefighters will respond as quickly as possible. Aircraft are actually assisting at fires but aircraft don’t put fires out, they help curve the fire.”

Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Ben Marcus said favourable weather conditions provided “some sense of optimism” in some parts of the state.

Mr Marcus said there was good news for evacuation centres with numbers down to approximately 50 evacuees in the Dalby, Chinchilla and Warwick centres.

Ms Palaszczuk said the government would be extending the aerial firefighting contract until late January with the bushfire season expected to run long.

“So what we have done is we’ve extended that … to make sure that we have enough firefighting capability that will be needed because of the extended fire season.”

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Cameron Harsley said there had been reports of looting.

“Unfortunately, we have three current reports of looting. They’re under investigation,” he said.

“Of course, we take a very dim view of that activity. And at the end of our investigation, if we can arrest and charge people, that’s the action we’ll be taking.”

Originally published as Qld bushfires: Fears dry lightning will spark further blazes