A flat tyre on a car under tow sent landholders along a 60 kilometre stretch of the Landsborough Highway between Tambo and Blackall scurrying to contain spot fires in gusty conditions on Sunday afternoon.
The vehicle was being towed by Ron and Pam Grasby of Laidley behind their bus when it’s believed a roo bone punctured a front tyre.
Unaware of the damage, the couple continued driving towards Blackall as the tyres wore down and began sending sparks out to the roadside vegetation.
Fanned by hot winds, fires stretched between the Langlo Road turnoff and the Tumbar Road turnoff, spreading through the Gillespie Reserve.
A truck from the Blackall Fire Brigade was dispatched to patrol the highway as landholders brought in graders to establish fire breaks around the larger outbreaks.
Most had been brought under control by late afternoon.
Blackall grazier Craig Scholes said it had been the second fire along the same stretch of highway in the last two years caused by a vehicle malfunction.