Four charged over illegal campfire that sparked Fraser Island bushfire

Police have charged four people over an illegal campfire that was not properly extinguished and started the bushfire that scorched more than half of Fraser Island.

Authorities estimate the fire burnt through 87,000 hectares of the island, led to mass evacuations of residents and threatened homes, coming within metres of the community of Happy Valley.

It will be alleged on October 14, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers on Fraser Island (K’Gari) found an illegal campfire within the Duling Camp Zone of Eastern Beach.

Rangers said the fire was covered in sand but still radiating heat, and as a result, vegetation nearby had caught alight and started a wildfire to the north-west of the camp site.