Evacuation order on Australia’s Fraser Island as fire continues to burn
- A bush fire has been raging for seven weeks on the World Heritage-listed island which is part of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
- Baking temperatures across Queensland caused peak bush fire conditions, with emergency services currently attending to 48 fires
Since it was sparked by an illegal campfire seven weeks ago, the blaze has blackened half the island off Australia’s north eastern coast, which is part of the Great Barrier Reef and famed for its inland lakes and tropical rainforest on sand dunes.
Residents of Happy Valley had a small reprieve after the blaze lessened in intensity on Sunday afternoon, Queensland state emergency services commissioner Greg Leach told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“We now don’t anticipate that the fire will run into the Happy Valley settlement today but we’ll continue to work hard,” Leach said.
“We will continue to have aircraft on the fire from first light [on Monday] to try and knock that fire down as best we can.”
Officials said there were more than 90 personnel, 38 vehicles and 17 aircraft working on Fraser Island, including a large air tanker based in the state for the bush fire season and another tanker on the way from New South Wales state.
Queensland’s emergency services urged residents to evacuate late on Sunday afternoon.
