By Tanya Faulkner
The Dandenongs are doing their bit to help the wider East Coast of Australia as fire season comes to a blazing start.
Several fires have been reported around New South Wales and Queensland, already burning across several thousand hectares and leaving devastation as the weather continues to get warmer.
District 13 have been recruited to send support crews to Queensland in recent days, with a fire truck from the Olinda Fire Station on its way to aid fire fighting efforts in the state.
Olinda CFA captain Phil Skiller said their truck has been deployed up to Queensland.
“The truck was originally going to Rockhampton.
On Friday 3 November, Olinda Rural Fire Station shared that the truck had made it to Gladstone – a mere 2172 kms away from its starting location.
Now that the truck has arrived, crews will start working over the weekend on the Queensland blazes.
“Our crews from District 13 in the Hills, alongside other districts in Victoria, will work on a rotation to go and crew our truck while it’s up there and support the Queensland crews,” he said.
Crews will be deployed from Olinda Seville, Hillcrest, Mt Evelyn and Rowville to support the truck.
Brigades in the Hills are regularly deployed to help other municipalities across Victoria, as well as going interstate to help with firefighting efforts over the summer season.
Mr Skiller said brigades in the Dandenongs are quite fortunate to have such a big placement of CFAs in the area.
“We’re quite lucky, we can draw on another 15 brigades in the area to help us out.
“Missing one truck out of our area doesn’t cause many issues, we’re very lucky in that respect.
“We have a lot of resources and crews to draw on here to support the Dandenongs, and support Queensland as well,” he said.
Up in Queensland, residents are not yet out of the woods, as fires continue to burn across the state.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) has extended a local fire ban for Central Region residents.
A local fire ban has been put in place until 2359hrs on Tuesday 7 November.
The local fire ban also includes residents in the Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council area, along with the Rockhampton, Livingstone, Mackay, Whitsundays, Isaac, Central Highlands, Barcaldine, Blackall-Tambo, Longreach, Barcoo, Winton, Gladstone and Banana Local Government Areas.
The Bureau of Meteorology had forecast a hot, windy week with temperatures in the high 30s and a wind change from the North/Northwest arriving mid-week.
Weather conditions eased slightly overnight on Tuesday 31st October, but Queensland’s bushfire emergency is not yet over.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has paid tribute to fire crews who have fought 900 blazes in a dozen days.
Relief firefighters from Victoria have begun arriving and are heading directly to the fire-fronts to help get the situation under control.
The main fire that has been causing concern has been rampaging across Tara, Queensland, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.
It is one of approximately 40 other fires burning around Queensland, with an estimated 30 other fires having been reported in New South Wales in recent days.
According to reports from Queensland, the loss of homes in Tara from the recent fires on Queensland’s Western Downs has already surpassed the total number of homes lost during the Black Summer fire season of 2019.
Reports said 53 homes have been destroyed in the community, displacing approximately 2,000 residents, compared to 49 across the state in 2019.
