The fire burned about 82,000 hectares of the small island, a popular tourist destination because of its sand dunes and natural wealth, including dingos (wild dogs), advanced the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, where Fraser is located .
The main sources of the fire are located in the eastern part of the island, where firefighters try to prevent the fire from reaching the residential area of Kingfisher Bay.
The fire fighting is being carried out by a team of 90 people and 38 vehicles, in addition to 17 airplanes, and was started six weeks ago when the fire broke out for reasons still unknown, although police suspect it was caused by an evil fire erased by a group of hikers.
The 17 fighter planes, including a large cargo plane, “launched about a million liters of water (991,000 liters to be exact) on the island,” the firefighters said in a message posted on Facebook.
Some residents and cybernauts criticized the slow reaction of the authorities, who, after putting out the fire, will have to inform the United Nations Agency for Education, Science and Culture (Unesco) about the damage caused on the island, called K’gari in the language indigenous.
According to ecology expert Patrick Moss, from the University of Queensland, much of the island is adapted for firefighting, but there is great concern about the tropical forests around the Valley of the Giants and Central Station, not far from the fire. .
“That’s where there can be long-term damage,” warned Moss, quoted by the Brisbane Times.
Climate change is exacerbating fires in Australia, especially in the south and east of the country, which last year suffered the worst forest fires in decades, with 24 million hectares burned and 33 deaths.
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