Homes threatened as spring kicks off with summer temps
High winds and soaring temperatures sparked bushfires across the nation's east coast. Photo: Rural Fire Brigades Association Qld
Blazes have erupted as temperatures typically seen in summer gripped Queensland’s south-east on the first weekend of spring.
Homes were threatened as the unseasonably hot start to the season brought increased fire risks.
Firefighters told residents at Plainland, west of Ipswich, to prepare to leave on Sunday afternoon because of a dangerous and fast-moving bushfire near the Warrego Highway.
There were also fire bans in Queensland’s Ipswich and the Lockyer Valley on Sunday.
The NSW Rural Fire Service issued an emergency warning, which was later downgraded, for a large grass fire burning near Tabulam, in the state’s north.
Brisbane reached a high of 34.4 degrees on Sunday, making it the hottest September day in the city since 2019.
Coastal areas from Gladstone to the Gold Coast came a few degrees shy of breaking the record for Queensland’s highest recorded temperatures for the start of spring.
It comes after the state had its third-warmest winter on record with temperatures 1.8 degrees above the long-term average.
South-east Queensland’s fire bans followed similar bans for the greater Sydney region as early spring temperatures soared to 33 degrees in the NSW capital.
Maximum temperatures across the city in the first days of September matched the midsummer average of 26.4 degrees, warmer than any other start to spring since observations began.
There were also severe weather warnings across south-eastern Australia at the weekend as damaging winds fuelled the hot conditions.
In NSW and Victoria, two children were treated for head injuries in Banksia, in Sydney’s south, before being taken to hospital on one of two incidents where the strong winds picked up jumping castles.
An infant with minor injuries was also hospitalised, while a woman was treated at the scene.
At Mount Duneed, near Geelong in Victoria’s south-west, two more children were taken to hospital after a jumping castle was lifted into the air with them inside.
Temperatures are expected to drop in the coming days across both NSW and Queensland.
-with AAP
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