Heartbreaking survival stories have emerged as firefighters look to finally contain a deadly blaze in southern Queensland.
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Residents are still not able to return to Tara, west of Brisbane, after hundreds were forced to flee from the ferocious fire that claimed one life and destroyed 16 homes.
A yet to be identified body was found on Tuesday night in the fire-ravaged region.
A 73-year-old woman also died after she suffered a heart attack while trying to evacuate her property.
A recovery plan is now in place for Tara with firefighters confident the large blaze, that has burned more than 11,000 hectares, will be fully contained by Thursday night.
More than 40 crews are set to wrap up containment while other firefighters battle a nearby blaze threatening Halliford caused by a lightning strike on Wednesday night.
There were fears the fire would also threaten Tara, prompting the relocation of hundreds of evacuees to Dalby and Chinchilla late on Wednesday.
There are 239 people now at Dalby and 28 at Chinchilla.
Some have lost everything.
Johann Lottering has set up a GoFundMe fundraiser for his parents who had moved to Tara to retire.
Mr Lottering said his father was able to evacuate before their home was destroyed.
"Dad got out with his two dogs and the clothes on his back - it is heartbreaking," he told AAP.
Mr Lottering said he felt helpless hearing news of the fire while living in South Australia but was thankful his father was safe.
His mother was visiting family in Brisbane when the fire hit.
"Dad spent all his money on that property so that could be their retirement - they have lost absolutely everything," he said.
Dimitrios Georgiadis said his good mate Gavin Creamer was also homeless due to the blaze.
"Gavin managed to evacuate with his two dogs but unfortunately could not locate his two cats in the process," he said on his GoFundMe page.
A wind change and light showers late on Wednesday looked set to turn the tide for fatigued firefighters in the Tara region before lightning struck, causing five new blazes.
"If anything it created more issues for our firies," Western Downs Mayor Paul McVeigh said.
"They had to attend to five lightning strikes and put them out as soon as they appeared.
"While it cooled down a bit, they had a very, very busy night."
Almost 150 firefighters have been deployed to fight the Western Downs fires with 34 waterbombing aircraft available.
Residents at Halliford and nearby Wieambilla were told to leave their homes on Thursday.
A fire on the Darling Downs in the southwest, that burned about 3000 hectares, destroyed a house and forced people into evacuation centres, was contained on Thursday.
However fires are threatening Undullah, southwest of Brisbane, and Mutchilba, in north Queensland, with residents told to seek shelter immediately.
There are about 60 blazes burning in Queensland on Thursday, with fire bans in 56 local government areas.
There were extreme fire danger warnings for the Maranoa region in the southwest and for the central west, northwest and Channel Country.
The Bureau of Meteorology said a southerly change would bring cooler conditions moving through the state's west.
But the bureau warned the cool change would bring strong, gusty winds, driving up the fire danger in the coming days.
Australian Associated Press
