Fire burns through multiple properties in central Queensland just weeks into fire season
About 1,000 hectares and the stockyards at Belmont Research Station were destroyed in a grassfire at Etna Creek, north of Rockhampton, yesterday.
Key points:
Dingo grazier Anita Davison estimates about 95 per cent of her property has burned in a bushfire
Ms Davison says she had only just begun rebuilding her herd after years of drought
She says the family home was saved, but there is nothing left for her 200 cattle to feed on
Fires have raged through thousands of hectares of crucial grazing land in central Queensland despite being only six weeks into the official bushfire season in Queensland.
Central Queensland regional AgForce president John Baker said the station ran about 1,000 head of cattle and feeding them would be a struggle unless more rain fell.
"It's going to put a lot of pressure on the rest of the paddocks to be able to run the cattle," he said.
"Hopefully, we get some rain … but in the meantime, we're a bit short on feed."
Earlier this month, central Queensland's Anita Davison finally had grass on her property following years of drought and was rebuilding her cattle herd.
But before bushfire season had even started, a "catastrophic" fire burnt through 95 per cent of her land.
"We had a red hot high flame and it was roaring, coming towards the house," she said.
The family home has been saved, but there is nothing left for her 200 cattle to feed on in the hot, dry months ahead.
Her property is about 20 kilometres south of Dingo, a small town between Emerald and Rockhampton.
When a bushfire began on neighbouring land on Tuesday, September 5, Ms Davison was already concerned.
She had been in the process of preparing for the fire season, but her bulldozer broke down in the process of creating fire breaks, and Ms Davison was waiting for it to be fixed.
There was a significant amount of dry grass on her property from the wet season, and by the weekend, the blaze was out of control.
"Saturday was our catastrophic day … we had bad luck with the winds," Ms Davison said.
The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services confirmed bushfires in the Dingo region burnt through about 3,600 hectares of land and killed at least one animal.
Delay in getting 'critical' help
Ms Davison said she called triple-0 on Saturday morning, but it took four hours for firefighters to arrive because local volunteers were not available.
A nearby fire at a national park sparked by a suspected lightning strike joined the fire, which began near Ms Davison's property.
"The fire crews they did try their very best, but the hardest thing for us was on that really bad day, that really windy day, it was just a time delay," Ms Davison said.
"That was probably pretty critical."
Queensland Fire and Emergency Service's bushfire mitigation officer Fiona Quirk said the fire was now contained and being monitored.
"We did everything we could to get crews out there, but no one was available," she said.
"… We did the best we could."
Ms Quirk said the fire was not being treated as suspicious.
She urged landholders to be prepared for the fire season.
"You need to put your breaks in, " Ms Quirk said.
"You need to clear around your property, clean your gutters and have a plan of what you're going to do if the fire is going to impact your property."
Ms Davison said some volunteer firefighters even travelled up to three hours to help fight the blaze. She thanked everyone for their hard work.
She said at 9pm on Saturday, a firebreak was made around their family home, which saved it and the surrounding shed.
"It met the fire front, which was a fascinating and terrifying thing to watch," Ms Davison said.
"It is magic when it works … we were very lucky."
She said while they had not been able to survey all of their property yet, it appeared their cattle had all survived.
Recovery efforts
Ms Davison said the fire was finally contained more than a week later on Wednesday, September 13.
"Just shell shocked. A week before, there was grass in the paddocks, and the cows were going well," she said.
"Driving in [to the property] because everyone else has grass left … [there's a] sinking feeling.
"The reality is that we just don't have grass. There's a couple pockets of grass in the paddocks, but not enough to last too long."
Ms Davison and her husband are now grappling with expensive freight costs to ship hay in from New South Wales.
While family and friends have offered some hay and a paddock in the interim, Ms Davison said she was working through it "one day at a time."
"I'm not afraid to say I've asked for help from Aussie Helpers [charity for farmers] this morning," she said.
"It's an emotional time … we are just very grateful that it didn't spread further."