Tiny country town is rocked after its only supermarket goes up in flames - and now its 600 residents are faced with a ridiculous ultimatum thanks to Queensland's hard border closures
- The fire tore through Mungindi, a town on both sides of the QLD and NSW border
- A butcher shop caught fire on Tuesday night, then spread to the supermarket
- The devastating inferno is estimated to have caused $1million worth of damage
- Mungindi locals will need to leave the border bubble for essential supplies
A fire has wiped out a small country town's only supermarket and butcher, forcing locals to leave their border bubble to get supplies.
The inferno tore through Mungindi, a town on both sides of the Queensland and New South Wales border, which has suffered through drought and COVID-19 restrictions.
A butcher shop caught fire on Tuesday night before spreading to the supermarket, a clothing store and an apartment block. The RFS contained the blaze by 9.30pm.
Investigations are underway into the what started the fire, which is estimated to have caused $1million worth of damage.
The inferno tore through Mungindi, a town on both sides of the Queensland and New South Wales border, which has suffered through drought and COVID-19 restrictions
A butcher shop caught fire on Tuesday night before spreading to the supermarket, a clothing store and an apartment block. The RFS contained the blaze by 9.30
Moree Plains Shire Mayor Katrina Humphries told Daily Mail Australia that Mungindi's 600 locals would be forced to leave their border bubble to travel to Mooree to buy supplies.
'Although we are in the shire we aren't all in the bubble, only selected postcodes have been included in it,' she said.
'It's completely split our shire. I've spoken to elderly people who are so frightened that they can't get into Moree to go to the shops because then they'll break the travel bubble.'
The nearest place for Mungindi residents to buy their groceries is Goondiwindi - 162km away - or into Queensland which would require them to isolate for 14 days.
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'So if they come out of Mungindi to shop in Moree or something like that they can't then go into Queensland to have their medical issues. That is just cruel and wicked and brutal,' she said.
Ms Humphries said Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's hard border closures and the creation of travel bubbles within certain postcodes has created division in her shire.
'We've never had this division like this before,' she said. 'It's just cruel and unnecessary and it doesn't make sense.'
'We've got no COVID. The whole [pandemic] we have had one case and that was transmitted from a hospital back in April.'
'We have always had a great affinity with south east Queensland and now its just been cut off. This is so sad, what else can our beautiful communities have to deal with?'
Moree Plains Shire Mayor Katrina Humphries said Mungindi's 600 locals would need to leave the border bubble for essential supplies
Ms Humphries said she was in awe at the community's resilience and bravery.
Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall announced the Queensland Government will provide $100,000 in emergency funding for temporary store to supply locals with basic essentials.
'My heart goes out to the Mungindi community tonight, which has seen a freak fire rip through its CBD, destroying several businesses, including the butcher shop, clothes store and the only supermarket,' he said in a statement on Tuesday night.
'They're looking at a couple of sites to establish that at the moment just to make sure locals can continue to access their basic needs and basic supplies.
'I'll be in Mungindi [on Wednesday] to inspect the damage and do what I can to help the community rebuild.'
NSW Deputy John Barilaro said he would be pushing for looser border restrictions to help the affected communities.
'We'll set up a range of new facilities quickly with local government,' he said.
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