Bushfire threat to Holly & Dec’s jungle camp
I’M A Celebrity stars could be evacuated as raging bushfires threaten the set in Australia.
Heatwave conditions have sparked up to 200 blazes, fanned by strong winds, with dozens of fresh ones reported every day.
They first flared up hundreds of miles away from the jungle set but last night huge fires were reported just 37 miles away.
A show insider said: “We speak to the fire services regularly and we are also monitoring the bushfires today.
“There is no immediate danger but the safety and the welfare of our cast and crew is our number one concern, and so we will continue to watch how the fires develop.
“We are really hoping they don’t get any closer to camp.”
I’m A Celebrity is filmed near Murwillumbah, New South Wales, which is just a few miles from the border with Queensland where the biggest fires are raging.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology declared a “catastrophic fire danger” – the first time the highest threat level has been applied in the state. Thousands of residents have already been evacuated from homes across the region.
Inferno
Yesterday residents were ordered to leave their houses in Oxenford and Wongawallan – fewer than 40 miles from the ITV show’s set.
Some 8,000 people were ordered to leave the town of Gracemere, about 370 miles north of Queensland’s capital Brisbane.
The inferno was also threatening the larger town of Rockhampton, which is about five miles away and has about 80,000 residents.
Firefighters from all over Australia have been battling for nearly a week to contain the fires, which have destroyed properties and led to the closure of dozens of schools.
Queensland’s premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said: “We have not seen the likes of this. These are unprecedented conditions. We expect to be in this heatwave at least until next Tuesday so it is going to be very serious from now until then.”
The state has been experiencing a record heatwave with temperatures above 104F (40C).
Unlike the drier south, fires are unusual at this time of year because it is the wet season. I’m A Celebrity contestants have been evacuated from the camp in previous years due to flooding and heavy storms. In 2015, campmates had to take sanctuary in the show’s Bush Telegraph refuge hut amid thunder, lightning and torrential rain.