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Fire threat on Stradbroke Island not over

Firefighters say a fire that forced the evacuation of 900 campers on North Stradbroke Island may flare up again on the weekend if the wind changes direction.

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Source: AAP


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A large bushfire that sparked the exodus of 900 campers on North Stradbroke Island, east of Brisbane, may flare up again.

Firefighters worked around the clock on Wednesday night when the blaze jumped containment lines and reached several campsites near Blue Lake.

Nine hundred campers were evacuated from Main Beach and the Blue Lake area on New Year's Day as a precaution.

Queensland Fire and Rescue Service Superintendent Arthur Torrance says this was just as well as the fire had got out of control.

"The fire went from a few metres an hour to seven kilometres in five hours, that's how fast it was," he told AAP.

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"As it went through, it jumped one of our control lines at the swamp and went up out of the swamp and along the beach area where the campers would have been located.

"The fire actually went right through those campsites."

He said there was no infrastructure damage because the sites were only plots of land.

The blaze has slowed, but Superintendent Torrance says a wind change expected late on Saturday could trigger another flare-up.

"We are hoping we can stop any flare-ups when the wind switches around."

Firefighters and two water-bombing helicopters are working to contain the fire.

The fire is currently burning on the eastern end of Alfred Martin Way at Blue Lake.


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