Emergency crews in south-west Queensland are working to strengthen containment lines around a bushfire still burning near Dirranbandi with no let-up in the dangerous weather conditions expected this afternoon.
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00:00Queensland's Fire Department has confirmed 1,700 hectares of land has been burnt on the
00:07outskirts of Dirambandi in Queensland's Ballon Shire.
00:11Dirambandi is about six hours west of Brisbane and is home to about 600 people.
00:18Those residents had to evacuate on Tuesday night as the fire licked the outskirts of
00:24the town.
00:25They were given the all-clear to return on Wednesday night and throughout Wednesday and
00:31today, Thursday, have been shuffling in back into their homes.
00:35They've discovered fridges with food that's gone off and are making sure the pets that
00:40they've left behind are okay.
00:42Would have been 24 hours now, yeah, that we were left without power.
00:48No cold water.
00:49No fuel.
00:50No telecoms.
00:51We've got a backup generator going, obviously, so we lost a bit here and there, but, you
00:56know, you've just got to cut your losses with that sort of thing, so, you know, we're doing
01:01our best.
01:02Yeah, you had to sweat all through the night, but, yeah, luckily for places like the pub
01:07that were still open, you could charge your phone and, you know, get some sort of drink
01:12or, you know, any bits and pieces you might have needed.
01:16They take risk their lives and put us first, our community, our houses, our dogs, animals,
01:26and they said we must rescue these people, you know.
01:30We're so grateful we can't say any words.
01:33I can't find any words to say how grateful we are.
01:38The Boulogne Shire Council says the fires could have been disastrous and it's a miracle
01:45that no homes were destroyed in the fires and no one lost their lives.
01:50Now, heatwave conditions are expected to continue throughout the day with temperatures in the
01:56low 40s.
01:57There are some concerns that predicted storm activity this afternoon could bring lightning
02:02strikes to the area, which could flare up fires again.