Water bombers have been used extensively in combatting the fire on Fraser Island. Photo: File
Waterbombing "very heavily": Fire chief explains Kingfisher defence
Stuart Fast
1st Dec 2020 6:25 PM
QUEENSLAND Fire and Emergency Service Superintendent James Haig has given an update of the firefighting efforts on Fraser Island for Tuesday December 1st.
It comes as part of the fire continues to threaten Kingfisher Bay Resort.
Mr Haig is incident controller of the fire and is co-ordinating firefighting efforts from the incident control headquarters at Rainbow Beach.
"The fire did cross Boon Boon Creek, that's north of Kingfisher Bay," he said.
"We've been waterbombing it very heavily, what we've been trying to do is slow the spread of the fire southward and shape it somewhat so it will pass to the east of Kingfisher Bay."
"We've done a couple of water drops from the large Airtasker made available," Mr Haig said.
"So far a combination of the wilder winds has helped with that and the aircraft have been very successful, so far that plan is working.
"Elsewhere we've had a reasonable day, fire behaviour is generally better than what is was yesterday … we're preparing things that might come into play later, such as assets we'll have to work around to make sure the as safe as possible when the fire arrives."
Mr Haig said firefighters were using mapping flights to know where the fire was across multiple fire fronts.
"We're also rotating crews through very strongly and managing fatigue that way, we're bringing crews on and off from Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and QFES crews," he said.
As of 3:30pm, conditions remained unpredictable and could change rapidly.
People in the area will be affected by smoke, which will reduce visibility and air quality.
Call triple-0 (000) immediately if you believe your property is under threat.
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