More than 60 homes have been destroyed by fire in Queensland as academics warn a “very bad fire season” may be in store on the east coast this summer. 

Dozens of fires have burned across Queensland this week, with 58 houses confirmed lost in Tara, 300 kilometres west of Brisbane, and some also lost in Far North Queensland. Due to heightened fire conditions, a local fire ban has been extended across much of Queensland. 

Emergency services continue to work on bushfires with water bombing craft at Montrose, near Tara, and the fire is now contained after burning through 26,000 hectares over 10 days. Warnings remain in place for surrounding communities. 

Many more fires than usual are burning through the night, academics from the University of Tasmania say, and the fires are unusually early in the season as much of the east coast is now exceptionally dry.  

“The plant regrowth from La Niña rains has dried out and is, in many places, set to burn. It’s still spring, with a long summer ahead,” the researchers said in The Conversation, noting eastern Victoria residents grappled with fire one day and flood the next in early October. 

“Put together, it suggests we may be facing a very bad fire season on the east coast.” 

There are still dozens of bushfire warnings in southern Queensland, and numerous fires in northern NSW, with “leave immediately” advice in place for Queensland’s Innot Hot Springs and Jumna Dam. 

Eighty-four firefighters from Victoria arrived on Wednesday to shore up fatigued crews, and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says 27 fire crews from New Zealand will also assist. 

NSW Premier Chris Minns described the bushfires as a "scourge" that were expected to continue through summer, and disaster assistance payments have been offered in Queensland and NSW, with a bushfire fodder task force established to assist primary producers. 

Around 70 people spent the night at a Tenterfield Showground evacuation centre in NSW, and a community meeting was held in the regional town centre overnight. 

Rural Fire Service Inspector Joe Cullen said fire was “being lifted above the ground, into tree tops and crowning scrub, effectively jumping containment lines".  

Five road trains of fodder are being sent to affected areas, and advice will be provided about how best to manage livestock. Two road trains are expected to arrive in the Carnarvon Gorge area on Friday night, while the other three will arrive in the Burnett region from interstate on the weekend. 

“Multiple properties have been damaged and thousands of cattle are considered at significant risk of animal welfare issues in these regions,” Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Rural Communities Mark Furner said. Primary producers can also access disaster assistance loans up to $250,000 and freight assistance up to $5000. 

University of Tasmania academics Calum Cunningham, David Bowman and Grant Williamson say their analysis shows the fires “are weird in at least two ways,” revealed as data from geostationary satellites have revolutionised fire spotting, shifting from six-hourly updates to every 10 minutes. 

Queensland’s south-east and Western Downs regions are seeing more than five times more nighttime hotspots than average, they say, and the fires are early in the season – especially the nighttime fires. 

“To this region, October has brought the third highest number of daytime hotspots seen this century. But it’s the nighttime hotspots that are freakish. Five times more nighttime hotspots than average have been detected compared to previous Octobers. 

“Is south-east Queensland seeing more fire than usual? On the whole, yes. And it’s early – one of the earliest seasons since satellite records began in 2001. 

"We could see some areas which burned during Black Summer along the east coast burn again, though probably not to the same severity,” they said.