A ‘potentially devastating’ fire near a popular campsite on Queensland’s Fraser Island (K’gari) is being treated as suspicious by authorities.
The blaze broke out near Marloo late last week, and the Department of Environment and Science believes it may have been ‘deliberately lit’.
Principal Ranger Mark Cody told the Courier Mail that, so far, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) rangers had issued a $689 Penalty Infringement Notice to a man who allegedly lit an unlawful campfire at the Marloo camping area early on Thursday morning.
“Around midday, rangers were advised the Orchid Beach RFS were heading to the Marloo region where a bushfire was burning,” Mr Cody said. “When rangers and the RFS arrived at Marloo, they found a fire about the size of a four-wheel-drive burning in the bush and were thankfully able to extinguish it.”
He thanked the firefighters for their ‘professionalism and diligence. in preventing an uncontrollable bushfire.
“We believe the fire was deliberately lit with the intention of causing a bushfire, as it was located in the bush and not on the beach or near the dunes,” Mr Cody told the Courier Mail. “It is extremely disappointing that an alleged incident of arson has occurred on the island.”
The incident comes just over a year since a devastating fire razed more than half the World Heritage Listed Island. That fire, which burned for more than seven weeks, was sparked by an illegal campfire which hadn’t been properly put out.
Since then, 55 fire related offences have been recorded on the island.
Four fines have already been issued this year.
Mr Cody told the Courier Mail that the QPWS took a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to illegal campfires on the island and explained the embers could smoulder beneath the sand and ignite the root systems of nearby vegetation hours later, which is how the 2020 bushfire began.
“Visitors and residents to the island are warned that people routinely provide information, including photos, when irresponsible people light campfires,” he said
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