Despite a number of devastating bushfires already this year, there is growing anger at the way come campers continue to be reckless with campfires.
A week of so ago, a campfire at Double Island Point near Maryborough in Queensland nearly destroyed the Leisha Track and surrounding bushland.
It led to frustrated rangers to label the illegal campers responsible as ‘imbeciles’.
“Again, another escaped campfire required quick action from Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers and QFES’s Rural Fire service,” Senior Ranger Col Lawton told the 91.1 radio station. “Most visitors to Teewah and Double Island Point do the right thing, and we’re asking people who want to behave like an imbecile to consider the environment, their fellow campers and their hip pocket.”
Mr Lawnton said that the campfire escaped into the bush north of Leisha Track at Double Island Point, and high tides hampered access, but rangers got to the site on foot. They found an abandoned campsite and an unauthorised campfire still smouldering and spreading into nearby bushland.
A QPWS bollard was put in the campfire. PIC: QPWS / 91.1
With the assistance of other campers and people on boats on the lagoon, QPWS rangers extinguished the fire and prevented it from escaping further into the bush.
“Rangers believe the people who lit the campfire were camping without a permit, and they were burning a QPWS bollard along with wooden pallets and rubbish,” Mr Lawton told 91.1. “In the afternoon, when the tide was out, rangers took a fire vehicle to the site and thoroughly raked and wet the fire bed down to prevent any ignition from any potential underground embers.”
Mr Lawton said rangers had issued penalty infringement notices recently to people who were camping without a permit near the Leisha Track.
“People need to follow the rules, and that means camping permits, vehicle access permits and not lighting unlawful campfires,” he said. “Our national parks have high ecological, cultural and conservation values and campfires are banned to protect those values and prevent bushfires.
The maximum fine for an illegal campfire is $689.
Why would you really need to have a camp fire in this weather? .. common sense tells you not to light one.. I mean really… these people should be shown the effects of black saturday bush fires then they might think twice about looking into flames at night.. Should be $10k minimum fine for irresponsible lighting of these fires.
There seems to be something in the Australian male makeup that demands they light fires.
It can be very annoying and limits the places where those with spouses who have chest problems can camp.
A lot of people think ”it’s not a camp if I don’t have a fire”.
Some of them light one & then retire to their caravan to watch satellite TV.
Is it any wonder that many popular ”free camping” areas are stripped of native vegetation?
Burning treated pine bollards demonstrates the intelligence of these idiots