Smoke billowed out from the Leichhardt River bank in Mount Isa on Sunday, after the auxiliary fire crew were called to conduct back burns due to an abandoned campfire.

Fire crews spent almost four hours, after arriving at 11am, to burn nearly one kilometre of grass along the bank facing Camooweal Street residences.

Mount Isa Auxiliary Captain Gordon Graham said the “hazard management” burn was no cause for concern.

“It’s a preparation back burn just to reduce the hazards in the area,” Captain Graham said.

He said it was a timely reminder for residents to be aware of any fire hazards that may be along their fence lines. 

With the north-west’s wretchedly dry climate, and 80 per cent of Queensland still drought declared, fire services are bracing themselves for another gruelling bushfire season.

Mount Isa Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Station Officer Eric McBain said matching this climate with the ground vegetation meant there was a high risk of potential wildfires and people should be prepared. 

“The most dangerous time of year in regards to fires would be August, September and October, for grass fire  but structure fires can occur at any time of the year,” he said.

Officer McBain urged parents not to leave children unattended with fire under any circumstances. 

“There should be supervision of juveniles to make sure they are not playing with matches or lighters,” he said. “That is probably one of our major ones [problems]. We quite often get calls with kids seen lighting fires.”

McBain said residents needed to reduce threats themselves as much as possible. 

“Residents need to be responsible because fire services can’t be at every incident straight away as we might be at another job,” he said.

“Mount Isa’s 24-hour station with one crew on duty at all times. There is also a calling crew of permanent fire fighters and can also be backed up by auxiliary crews.

“Additional to that there is the Mount Isa Rural Fire Brigade, which are volunteers, who operate as a separate entity under the same Commissioner Katarina Carroll.”

Rural Fire Service Queensland acting Bushfire Safety Officer Gordon Yorke said it was essential residents prepare a bush fire survival plan to enforce if their home or themselves are threatened by a fire.

“People need to be very wary of doing much production burns as they want to save their grass, but there are still lots of ways to prepare your property,” Officer Yorke said.  

Cautionary steps could include putting in fire-breaks, keeping areas clean and clear, access to buildings and water points.