Graziers count the cost of Queensland bushfire
Graziers count the cost of Queensland bushfire
20 October 2009
published by www.abc.net.au
Australia — A fire in central west Queensland has burnt out 50,000 hectares of grazing land.
Several properties north of Jericho have lost prime grazing pastures.
Grazier Danny Parker says the fire, started by lightning last week, burnt half of his property, Texas, and it means he will have to move stock.
“Burnt half of Texas out. It’s about 35,000 acres all together and about 15,000 burnt,” he says.
“We’ll probably have to bring some of our older cows home back here and just open the gates and let the others go where they need to go.”
The single biggest contingent of interstate fire fighters has arrived to help fight two major blazes in Queensland.
More than 60 men and women from New South Wales are helping protect homes near Rockhampton and further south, west of Bundaberg, crews are working to contain a fire that has already burnt more than 300 square kilometres of bush and grazing land.
The Queensland Government has announced Natural Disaster Relief funding to help people affected by the fires.
The Minister for Emergency Services Neil Roberts says the bushfire season is shaping up as one of the worst in Queensland’s history.
