Queenslanders warned of increased fire risks this spring

Dry grass, a wet winter and now higher than usual temperatures are fuelling fire friendly conditions across Queensland.

Transcript

00:00Fire season has already begun.

00:04The forecasting did indicate that we would be experiencing grass fire conditions in early

00:08spring and our crews are already starting to experience that.

00:11A wet and frosty winter resulted in dry vegetation which has caused the danger, with grasslands

00:17and open forests the most at risk.

00:19From Scenic Rim all the way out through the Darling Downs out to Charleville and then

00:23up into the west out through Winton and in the north we're talking about the Cape area

00:31and right through the Gulf and the Savannah country.

00:33Recent heat has compounded the problem.

00:35For large parts of Queensland there's also a high likelihood of unusually warm days,

00:39so those are more extreme heat days.

00:41The Bureau is forecasting that spring could bring higher than usual rainfall to southern

00:45and central parts of the state.

00:47The timing of how those events play out will impact how that impacts fire danger or whether

00:51there's a risk of flooding.

00:53There's little comfort to the people in Tara on the Western Downs, where fires ripped through

00:57more than 50 homes last year and killed two people.

01:00I think people are still coming to terms with the loss and the heartache that they experienced.

01:08A community that is still rebuilding faces the prospect of more danger.

01:12At the end of the day you've got to make sure that you are prepared for the worst and I

01:17suppose a bushfire is one of the worst things that can happen.