About 80 bushfires burning across Queensland with conditions expected

About 80 bushfires burning across Queensland with conditions expected to worsen on TuesdayShow more

Queensland firefighters continue to work tirelessly to contain a major blaze at Tara with conditions expected to flare up again on Tuesday.

An emergency warning was issued this afternoon, advising Tara residents on Lucky Road to leave immediately. It has since been downgraded but Tara remains unsafe to return to as of this evening.

About 80 bushfires remain burning on Monday, but interstate aid is on its way to assist fire crews, with six fire trucks from Victoria due to arrive in the south-west this evening.

Multiple watch and act warnings remain active across the state, but a warning for a previously fast-moving fire at Landsborough on the Sunshine Coast was cancelled on Monday morning, with conditions easing.

Rural Fire Service Area Director Ross Stacey said they were able to put in significant fire breaks over the weekend in the bushfire burning near Tara due to the cooler weather, which eased some pressure on crews.

"Tuesday's not looking like a really good day," Mr Stacey said.

"Any new fires that start can develop quite rapidly, and anyone's that had fire in their area recently knows that it doesn't take much for a spot fire to occur and the fire's up and running again."

Strong winds and higher temperatures are predicted for tomorrow, with gusts reaching up to 50 kilometres an hour, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Extreme fire danger is also forecast for parts of the Darling Downs.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said more requests for interstate aid have been made to assist fatigued Queensland crews.

Rural Fire Service Queensland (RFSQ) Chief Superintendent Tony Johnstone said crews were working tirelessly despite conditions easing temporarily.

"We're trying to make sure we get perimeters around the fire so we can allow people to get back into their homes to work out what they need to do to move forward.

"We know that we're going to have this tempo probably until the end of the month, looking at the weather ahead, unless we get some sort of rain.

"So, we're trying to balance out that fatigue, balance out what locals need to do, make sure that we can jump on top of fires."

More than 700 fires have been ignited across the state over the last 10 days and 44 homes in total have been lost in Tara.

Some fires believed to be deliberately lit
On Monday, police charged a man with setting fire to vegetation, wilful damage, possession of cannabis and obstructing police after a fire at Cleveland.

Emergency crews were called to Wellington Road at 7.30pm on Sunday after a number of people reported grass and shrubs were on fire.

Police located a man nearby and allege he was in possession of a number of lighters.

Specialist intelligence detectives are investigating another fire they believe was deliberately lit, which burned in Beerwah on Sunday.

"Initial information indicates the fire started near Stokes Road around 10.30am," a QPS spokesperson said.

"The cause of two other fires in the area are still undetermined at this time."

Anyone with information is urged to contact police.

Homeless and sleeping rough after being evacuated, Jason Brown is exhausted.

Like many residents in Tara, 300 kilometres west of Brisbane, he's angry about the lack of communication from authorities about the fires that ripped through his rural community last week.

"It's just a nightmare, it's terrible," he said.

"No one's getting told if their houses are gone, [there's] no communication."

Hundreds of people remain at an evacuation centre in Dalby, over an hour away, but dozens of residents in Tara have resorted to sleeping in their cars.

Mr Brown said residents were growing more frustrated by the day.

"The whole town is devastated and frustrated because there's [a] lack of communication from police and council," he said.

Paul Galloway thought he was safe from the Tara fire as he watched it in the distance from his home. Then the blaze jumped.

By the time he had returned to the house, the fire was at his front door.

"I started racing around, grabbing all my things," he said.

"The rural fire brigade came down in the truck and said 'You've got seconds mate'. I just moved as fast as I could."

The fire burnt through Mr Galloway's property. He managed to get out to his home to see what remained yesterday.

"It was grey and black and the ground was still hot with 6 inches (15cm) of ash," Mr Galloway described.

Fire impacted residents at Toowoomba and the Western Downs can apply for money from the federal government from 2pm tomorrow.

A one-off payment of $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 for each child is available for those who have suffered a significant loss from the fires, including those with severely damaged or destroyed homes or serious injuries.