The damage bill from this week’s bushfire at Biboohra, north of Mareeba, is expected to run into the millions of dollars. At its height, the fire forced the temporary closure of the Mt Mulligan Highway and destroyed a home, with firefighters managing to save another seven that were under threat.
This morning, farmers have been able to survey the damage, with the Stewart family farm estimating extensive damage to 3,000 trees. Chairman of FNQ Growers, Joe Moro, told Tropic Now that equates to more than half a million dollars lost from this season’s crop alone. “From an income point of view you’re looking at 30-40 thousand trays, if you’re talking 20 dollars a tray that’s a significant income loss,” he said.
“There’s a good chance the trees will rejuvenate but they’ll have to do a massive pruning and their irrigation infrastructure would have been damaged as well. So when you put it all together you could be looking at up to a million dollars damage and that’s just one property.”
