More than 8000 residents of the Queensland town of Gracemere have been forced to evacuate as a bushfire bears down on homes in unprecedented, catastrophic fire conditions.
Roads were gridlocked as the residents fled to Rockhampton on Wednesday afternoon as firefighters worked to protect homes and contain the blaze.
The large fire was sparked shortly before 3pm and raced towards Gracemere, just south of Rockhampton, prompting a mandatory evacuation order.
Queensland State Disaster Coordinator Deputy Commissioner Bob Gee told people to leave immediately.
"The best advice is I wouldn't pack anything, just pick up the kids and head towards the Rockhampton Showgrounds, you will be safe, there will be plenty of people to look after you," he said.
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"If it was me, I would go right now. Straight away."
People were told to make for the Rockhampton showgrounds around 14km away, where an evacuation centre has been set up.
It is unclear when they can return.
But by early evening, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services predictive services inspector Andrew Sturgess was saying firefighters were "starting to get on top" of the fire at Gracemere.
Queensland's fire conditions on Wednesday were "catastrophic," the first time they had ever been escalated to that level.
There may be some temporary relief on Thursday, with conditions expected to ease overnight, although the heatwave is expected to continue until next Tuesday.
"We are not out of the woods, There is a big fire risk across the state," Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
Despite the extreme danger at Gracemere, some residents have not left and some businesses are still trading in the Central Queensland community.
One of them is Gracemere BP petrol station, which remained open as people fleeing the fire called in for petrol and supplies.
BP staffer Trulie Lynch said the people she had seen were very stressed.
"People have the kids and they have the family pets, but we aren't going anywhere. We'll only go when we are told we have to," Ms Lynch said.
She was still there at 8pm.
Almost 140 fires are raging across the state, including a massive "firestorm" bushfire in the Deepwater region which has sparked mass evacuations.
