Teen facing court on fire
10 October 2008
A 14-year-old boy will face court for his alleged involvement in this week’s Noosa National Park fires which threatened more than 500 homes over a 24-hour period.
On Wednesday, police issued the teenager with a notice to appear at the Noosa Children’s Court. Because of the boy’s age, he is being dealt with under the Juvenile Justice Act, which means no more information about the charges will be made public.
Police investigations into the bushfire, which began just after 2pm on Monday and was not brought under control until just after 4pm on Tuesday, are continuing.
About 2250 hectares were burned out around Castaways Beach, Sunrise Beach and Lake Weyba in the Noosa National Park and at the height of the blaze, 72 firefighters from 21 urban and rural fire services and two water-bombing helicopters were on the scene.
When the fires broke late on Monday it was a long and anxious 24 hours for more than 500 homeowners in the Noosa area as they waited to see if firefighters could wrest control of the large bushfire which threatened their homes.
“Until it’s your home, you just don’t know what it feels like,” one resident at Sunrise Beach’s Moonbeam Crescent said.
“Yes, we live near bushland. We know the risks, but you don’t think it will happen. You don’t sit around thinking, ‘oh, any moment this could all be gone’.
“Thank God for firefighters and the SES. Thank you for saving our home.”
It was a sentiment echoed across more than 600 hectares in the usually peaceful area on Tuesday.
Many of those residents were tired after a night spent hosing the backs of houses and fences, clearing gutters and anxiously waiting to see if they would get the order to leave their home.
“It got to the point where the SES came to our door and asked how many people were in the house and told us that we had to stay together and keep track of where everyone was because we may have to leave,” Dame Patti Drive resident Helle Jenson said.
“And I just thought, ‘OK. This really is serious. It’s time to get worried’.
“Everyone was out here hosing down where they could. We had a fireman in our backyard hosing. All these embers were raining down on the lawn.”
The two water bombing helicopters could be heard from Ms Jensen’s home as they dumped countless litres on a blaze burning near Noosa Junction.
Jen Quennell and her seven-year-old son Winston watched the spectacle from the back of their Comet Court home.
The night before the flames had come a little too close for comfort to their home. SES volunteers told the family to gather their precious and irreplaceable possessions together “just in case”.
“We grabbed the photos. What else do you take?” Mrs Quennell said. “It doesn’t really matter when it comes down to it, does it?”
When the flames reached higher than her home, Mrs Quennell took her son further up the road as a precaution while her husband stayed to help hose down the back of their home.
“Everyone was out. People were on their roofs watching. It just came so close and it was so big.”
Photographer and Orealla Crescent resident Andrej Kadacik said the fires brought out a real community spirit in residents.
“Everyone was out the bottom of Dame Patti (Drive, Sunrise Beach) doing what they could to help,” he said. “People had hoses out and were just doing what they could. People banded together.
“Everyone was very calm. There was no panic.
“The firefighters were very good. We were told to gather together our photos and our valuables about 9pm (on Monday night) but it was very calm.
“I got my camera and my computer together just in case, but then I had dinner. We weren’t too worried. Then we went down to Dame Patti to have a look.”
On Tuesday hoses still lay where they had been abandoned by weary home owners.
Burst banksia blooms just metres from their homes showed just how hot the flames were and how close the fire came.
Late on Tuesday afternoon council workers warned Lake Weyba estate residents to have their garden hoses ready but they weren’t needed.
A southerly wind change came through as promised from the weather bureau giving firefighters another strong tool in their arsenal against the fire.
Just after 4pm Tuesday firefighters were able to announce they had the fire under control.
Bush fires at Sunrise Beach and Sunshine Beach threatened homes.
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