Operation McLeod
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In Response to: Devastating Bushfires
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Location: Deepwater QLD
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Active: Dec 16, 2018 to Jan 11, 2019
Objective
On Thursday, 22 November 2018, a bushfire began in the locality of Deepwater QLD, south of Gladstone. By Sunday 25 November, evacuation warnings were issued for residents in the Deepwater and Baffle Creek communities. The QLD Government enacted a disaster declaration for the Gladstone area on Monday 26 November in response to warnings of the fire intensifying. Evacuation orders were extended to Oyster Creek and Rules Beach after hundreds of homes at Deepwater, Baffle Creek and Agnes Water were evacuated. As at Tuesday 27 November, 1,500 people were displaced and 600 homes were evacuated. During the following fortnight, more than a million hectares of fires were burnt across QLD, with catastrophic consequences for communities, primary producers, agriculture and the environment.