Straddie camper evacuation completed
Straddie camper evacuation completed
01 January 2014
published by www.baysidebulletin.com.au
A New Year’s day shuttle service of Stradbroke Ferries barges successfully evacuated around 900 campers in 450 vehicles who had been holidaying at camp sites along Main Beach, North Stradbroke Island that were threatened by bushfires in the area.
The campers were ordered out of the campsites stretching along the kilometres of Main Beach on the eastern side of the island.
The Stradbroke Ferries team worked with police, SES and Straddie Camping to move the campers off the island by 4pm.
Campers who moved from the camping sites registered at the Dunwich Community Hall before being directed to the barges. In all there were 29 barge services on Wednesday, 18 more than the scheduled services for the day.
Multiple Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) crews remain on scene at a large, slow moving vegetation fire on the eastern end of Alfred Martin Way (formerly Tazi Road and also known as Trans Island Way) at Blue Lake,.
The fire, which is currently travelling in a north-easterly direction, is burning within containment lines and poses no threat to people or property
The Straddie Camping Facebook site made it clear that there was no camping available on the island for those campers who had bookings at Main Beach.
Flinders Beach is over capacity due to taking in some displaced campers from Main Beach and the other campgrounds are also full. As we explained in our earlier post, campers with bookings for Main Beach from tomorrow until the January 5 cannot be accommodated at any of the campgrounds on the Island,” the Post said.
Please defer your travel plans. You will not be able to set up camp if you arrive on the island. We are terribly sorry but we cannot predict or control Mother Nature.” The Facebook post said.
Bookings at sites such Amity Point, Point Lookout sites are not affected.
The blaze is causing a large amount of smoke in the area. Late in the afternoon, the wind changed direction and smoke blanketed Redland coastal suburbs.
Motorists are advised to drive to the conditions and adhere to local road closures.
Affected residents should keep their doors and windows closed. Those with respiratory illnesses are advised to keep their medications close by.
