(TAN): The devastating bushfire at Australia’s World Heritage Site Fraser Island, that has been burning for weeks, is threatening two popular resorts on the island.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) has issued an advice warning stating that the fire is burning on two fronts, within 5 km to the north of Kingfisher Bay Resort, and 2 km west of Cathedrals on Fraser, said media reports.
Kingfisher Bay Resort is a high-end resort on the island’s western side, while Cathedrals is a fenced-off campground on its eastern shore. There are guests at both sites and authorities have not yet asked anyone to leave. However a travel ban has been imposed on Fraser Island preventing any more people travelling there. Residents, campers and visitors already on the island have been asked to restrict their movements and not use inland roads.
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QFES Superintendent John Pappas said to the media there is not currently any threat to property and containment lines have been put in place ahead of both the fire fronts. “We’re not signalling an evacuation of the island, it’s just about making people aware of the hazards that are there and also controlling numbers so as the fire continues and we need to move people around it doesn’t overwhelm fire crews or park staff,” he added.
QFES has 35 firefighters on the ground on the island assisting parks and wildlife officers in fighting the blaze, with support from multiple water bombing helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. So far waterbombing aircraft have been no match for the island’s thick vegetation and sandy soils. With much of Australia in the grip of an extreme heatwave and temperatures reaching into the mid-40s, authorities fear the conditions on the island to deteriorate over the weekend.
Rural Fire Service area director Michael Koch said to the media the wind was due to switch from a southerly to a northerly on Sunday and could potentially turn the bushfire towards communities of Happy Valley and Cathedrals on the island’s eastern side. Kingfisher BayResort and Cathedrals however assured guests staying on the island that they were not in any danger.
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“Please note that this is not an evacuation of the island, and anyone currently on Fraser Island is able to remain until further notice,” Kingfisher Bay Resort said on its Facebook page.
“At this stage, the island’s major attractions including Champagne Pools, Eli Creek and Lake McKenzie have been unaffected,” Cathedrals on Fraser assured its guests.
Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour said prayed for rain to extinguish the bushfire that had till now blackened about 74,000 hectares of greenery, which amount to almost 40% of the island.
Inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1992, the island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 1,840 square kilometres. The bushfire on Fraser Island is thought to have started from an illegal wildfire on October 15.
