- Thousands of Sunshine Coast residents have spent a second night at evacuation centres or with friends and family after being forced from their homes by an intense bushfire.
- The blaze at Peregian was downgraded overnight ahead of an unfavourable weather forecast expected to hit in the coming days.
- More than 5,000 people were evacuated within 24 hours due to the fire, amid fears the blaze could have been lit on purpose.
Dark smoke billows from a bushfire near Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast. Source: AAP- Hundreds of those who fled their properties slept in evacuation centres on Monday, but those numbers dwindled on Tuesday after offers of safe homes and warm beds poured in, Noosa MP Sandy Bolton said.
Firefighters who have spent decades fending off the flames have told the independent MP that the Peregian fire has been hard to pick, with winds slowing to a lull before whipping up and changing direction. -
They are trying to stop it from jumping from the southern side of Murdering Creek Road to the north. - Three teenagers have been questioned by police after allegedly admitting online to starting the blaze.
Ms Bolton says it has been an emotional, traumatic and heartwarming time for her community. 
A blaze rages near residences in Peregian Springs on the Sunshine Coast. Source: JOHN PARK- "There are no words to express the volume of offers that are still coming into me," she said on Tuesday night."We got really weepy because we've just seen people move above and beyond, people who are on holidays, coming in and volunteer."
- Volunteers have cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner for those who have been displaced, community clubs have opened their doors and the Cooroy Library has been transformed into a refuge.
- It is still too dangerous for residents of Peregian Beach, Peregian Breeze Estate, Marcus Beach and Weyba to go home.
- Police say a bushfire exclusion zone will remain and will be reassessed on Wednesday morning.
- Eight fires - in Brisbane, Stanthorpe, the southeast and central Queensland regions - are being probed by a special police taskforce for potential arson.
Sunshine Coast on high alert after residents forced out of homes by fires
A destructive fire on Queensland's Sunshine Coast which forced thousands of residents from their homes has been downgraded overnight - ahead of more unfavourable weather forecasts.
Dark smoke billows from a bushfire near Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast. Source: AAP
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