Local fire crews are all hands on deck as Logan enters into a “high risk bushfire period”.
Extra helicopters, staff and other firefighting tactics have been on standby this past week, with the Queensland Fire Department deep in preparation while residents are banned from all open fires.
“We are at 100% readiness,” chief superintendent of the south-eastern region Tim Chittenden said.
“Everything we need is in place ready for the season and ready to combat fires, which we’ve been doing for a couple of weeks now, particularly around the Logan area.
“We have additional aircraft on standby, pre-positioned incident-management personnel, and all those extra things we wouldn’t normally have ready to go.”
The department last week issued a five-day fire ban that is scheduled to end at 11.59pm on Tuesday 7 October, spanning the entirety of south-east Queensland.
During this period, all open fires are prohibited and all Permits to Light Fire already issued are suspended.
However, the ban may be extended beyond Tuesday if conditions don’t improve.
“The closer we get to the date, the better the forecast will come from the [Bureau of Meteorology],” Mr Chittenden said last week.
“We are seeing another little spike in the fire weather for Tuesday [7 October], so we will review that over the weekend as we get a better forecast.
“Should that continue past Tuesday, then the potential may exist for us to extend that ban. But our intent is to try and lift that ban on Tuesday night.”
According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), the weather across south-east Queensland in September was hotter and dryer than usual.
Mr Chittenden said Logan in particular was grappling with weather conditions that had deteriorated over the last two weeks.
“We have had a number of fires cause a bit of drama – threatening some homes, infrastructure and different things. And some of those have come from permitted burns that got away.”
Last week, parts of Logan surpassed 32C. BOM has forecast similar conditions for the rest of this week, with maximum temperatures predicted to reach 33C at Logan Central and 36C out west at Greenbank.
This dry spell could last for several more weeks before any “decent rainfall” can provide relief, Mr Chittenden said.
“That will push us into November when we come into that traditional storm period.
“[BOM] is still predicting a wetter-than-average summer so we’ll see how we go.”
Mr Chittenden said most of the community was expected to comply with the fire ban.
“There is always someone who thinks the rule doesn’t apply to them, and I have no doubt that we’ll attend fires tomorrow where individuals will say they didn’t know [about the ban].
“That’s always a problem. But, in general, the public is very good and they do the right thing.”
