Warning of a wild fire season
GYMPIE fire and rescue officers are bracing themselves for the worst wild fire season they have seen in years.
Firefighters were called to put out a burning fence in Hall St this week after coals, emptied from an indoor woodfire, started a fire along a wooden fence.
A wet start to winter has increased vegetation around the region, which has been killed off by a number of winter frosts.
Queensland Fire and Rescue Service are warning that this year's weather conditions have created an abundance of fuel in the form of dead grass, resulting in the worst bushfire conditions seen in years.
Rural operations director Corey Brock said fire had broken out early this year and predicted that firefighters and landowners would this year be facing fast-moving dangerous grassfires in open paddocks.
Gympie firefighters were urging residents to make sure they had done everything they could to prepare homes and properties ahead of the traditional bushfire season.
Rural firefighters were also calling for help ahead of the season. To find out more about how to become a volunteer or how to prepare properties for fire, go to the Rural Fire Service website, ruralfire.qld.gov.au.
