![A view of the fire from the airport at Tara last Friday. Warrego MP Ann Leahy said conditions were so bad, it was scary to be there. Pictures supplied. A view of the fire from the airport at Tara last Friday. Warrego MP Ann Leahy said conditions were so bad, it was scary to be there. Pictures supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/88uitQDCBZnXA8enwGJ5Zd/622eb22e-4883-4dc2-8862-bf7d5823b47e.jpg/r0_284_588_989_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The conditions contributing to the fires that have been raging in the Tara region are some of the worst that specialist crop duster Lachlan Hill has experienced.
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Mr Hill, based at Meandarra, is part of the Precision Aerial team of nine that has been working consistently on bushfire containment in the area since the first week in August, and he said the fire conditions were being fed by a huge fuel load.
"The fires of 2019 were followed by terrible drought that killed a lot of trees and so the fuel load grew up there instead, where it's sometimes not seen," he said.
"We haven't hit serious fire weather yet, with a southwesterly blowing your head off - until it rains, I don't know what's going to happen.
"We're seeing fires start from very little now, and get going very quickly."
He watched the dry storms and lightning of late last week lighting up an area from Roma to the state's southern border, while flying back to base.
The company has been contracted to the state government for 11 years, and work it undertakes in winter time containing fires in Greece has assured it of permanent work for its pilots, one who has been working on the fires at Mount Isa and others who operated in the Carnarvon Gorge for a fortnight.
Warrego MP Ann Leahy visited the fire grounds around Tara last week and said it was exhausting watching the water bombers at the airport working nonstop.
![Water bombers refuelling in the Tara region are like a well-oiled machine, according to Warrego MP Ann Leahy. Water bombers refuelling in the Tara region are like a well-oiled machine, according to Warrego MP Ann Leahy.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/88uitQDCBZnXA8enwGJ5Zd/344a573d-066e-4804-9ab1-d02798e828d7.jpg/r0_102_1440_912_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"They were refuelling and putting in water, and turning around within five to 10 minutes, all week," she said. "I have massive admiration for all the first responders who've put in so much."
That included Ergon Energy working to make areas safe before people could return.
Ms Leahy described the conditions for people battling blazes last week as "disgusting".
Some 70 active vegetation fires were burning throughout Queensland early this week, 85 structures had been lost in the south west, and 26 people remained in the evacuation centre at Dalby, and Ms Leahy said it would now be important to work on accommodation for people who staff shops in the Tara region, who had nowhere to live.
"We don't want to lose them," she said, adding that it would be "really good" if Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited and offered support from above.
"They are amazingly resilient people but there have been a few tears," she said.
![Warrego MP Ann Leahy speaks with Wilkie Creek volunteers, hearing they were thankful for the cleared area beside the wild dog barrier fence, which stopped one fire in its tracks. Warrego MP Ann Leahy speaks with Wilkie Creek volunteers, hearing they were thankful for the cleared area beside the wild dog barrier fence, which stopped one fire in its tracks.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/88uitQDCBZnXA8enwGJ5Zd/4a26e73c-9522-4f3e-978f-78df8abc4019.jpg/r0_40_1782_1042_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Attending a community meeting in Tara, Ms Leahy said people had called for more pressure to be put on absentee landlords for better fire mitigation efforts.
"They also feel restricted by the Vegetation Management Act, saying they couldn't clear wide enough spaces," she said.