Massive Australian Dust storm hampers wildfire fighters in Queensland
Pastor Dale Morgan
Massive Australian Dust storm hampers wildfire fighters in Queensland*
By Jessica Marszalek
AAP
September 23, 2009 05:05pm
A MASSIVE dust storm engulfing southern Queensland has led to health
concerns, traffic and airport delays, cancelled horse racing and
delivered a blow to firefighting efforts.
Water-bombing helicopters were temporarily suspended this afternoon as
the skies turned dusty orange.
Drivers were asked to slow down, hundreds of passengers were stranded at
Brisbane Airport and horse racing at Eagle Farm was abandoned for jockey
safety.
And the ambulance service spent a busy day managing a spike in emergency
calls from residents suffering respiratory complaints.
Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said the good news was a change
in weather was expected to lead to clearer conditions tomorrow.
He said it was hoped water-bombing choppers would be back in the air to
battle fires caused by the continuation of hot, dry, windy conditions.
More than 300 firefighters were called upon today to fight 21 blazes,
but Mr Roberts said it had not been as bad as expected.
As a consequence, the effect of losing the choppers had not been a
disastrous hit, Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS) rural
operations director Paul Adcock said.
"It is a concern in that the helicopters are a great way of getting
intelligence for the fire and letting us know where fire is in a timely
way and also to be able to get a quick response out there,'' he said.
"But I think the fact that we have a lot of crews out there, a lot of
appliances, a lot of volunteers, a lot of firefighters, we've been able
to keep things nice and tight.''
He said the blazes giving firefighters most concern were east of
Kingaroy, although there had been no direct threat to homes.
Another at Neurum, near Woodford, was contained this afternoon after
having burned for a week.
At Cedar Pocket near Gympie, a fire also was contained after igniting
yesterday morning and burning down a shed.
Fire bans remain in place across more than half of the state.
Meanwhile, Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) assistant commissioner Leo
McNamara said there had been an increase in people dialling 000
especially from people with asthma and other lung conditions.
"There's certainly been a pronounced increase in asthmatics this
morning,'' he said.
"It's across the board from children to elderly folk.
"Fortunately they've contacted us early and have been utilising their
medications.''