A central Queensland mayor says the bushfire that destroyed 13 homes in the last few days behaved like no blaze anyone in the region has ever seen before.
Livingstone Shire Council Mayor Bill Ludwig says containment lines at the Cobraball fire near Yeppoon are holding, but that the erratic fire is being fanned by increasing wind gusts and high temperatures.
"Nobody has seen a fire that has reacted like this - we've had bad fires before, but nothing that's moved this quickly, this dramatically," he told ABC news on Wednesday.
"We actually have a front that's moving in multiple directions to the north, to the west, and we also have a front that's fairly well contained on the eastern boundary that's heading east and south.
"It gives you an idea of just how complex this particular fire has been to predict and respond to with the resources available."
Even as the massive fire still burns, the community spirit is high as people move into recovery mode, Cr Ludwig said.
He called on all levels of government to work together in the future to mitigate fire risk, not just react to an active fire.
The region lacked the resources to conduct annual burns to reduce the fuel load.
"We need the federal government and the state government to work together with local government and regional areas to put mitigation measures in place, long-term 10-year rolling plans of burns.
"It's the common-sense approach that we're going to need to address what is a changing situation in the intensity and the frequency of wildfires and cyclones and flood activities as well."
Australian Associated Press
