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Thousands of households across south-east Queensland will enter Monday night without power after the region sweltered through a day of extreme heat following a damaging storm. Firefighters on Monday battled more than 30 blazes across the region, which caused air quality levels to plummet to "poor" and "very poor". As of 7pm, more than 31,000 households were without power across south-east Queensland. Energex said 21,000 people had been without power on Monday morning but this had increased due to the day's "high winds" and "heat", although crews would be working through the night to get the power back on. A video showing a ute driver trying to pull down a tree that then toppled onto powerlines in Kenmore in Brisbane's west has been condemned by authorities. Energex spokesman Danny Donald labelled the act, which took out power to 85 properties, as "ridiculous" and "dangerous". "You should not be touching anything near powerlines," he said. "People should stay at least 10 metres away from any powerline and never do any work in or around them." About 950 requests for assistance were lodged with the State Emergency Service following Sunday's storm. Fires burning Queensland State Fire Control Centre coordinator Brad Moore said fires burning at advice level, some of which were sparked by lightning strikes, on Monday were expected to burn into the evening, given the cool change was not forecast until later. He said crews had earlier responded to a fire at Mount Crosby that had sent smoke towards Brisbane. A small fire at Redland Bay was also causing smoky conditions, while an earlier blaze at Caboolture had been extinguished. A larger blaze burning at Grandchester, in Ipswich, was also being tackled with a "lot of resources". Further north, firefighters also battled a blaze near the Bruce Highway in the Gladstone region, which was sparked by a car catching alight at a truck stop south of Miriam Vale at about 1pm. Sixty-eight vegetation fires were burning across Queensland at about 5pm on Monday evening, with more than 140 crews involved in firefighting efforts, Mr Moore said. Cool change ahead The mercury at Brisbane Airport reached 39.1 degrees Celsius on Monday — last reached in 1957 — while the CBD topped out at 38.7C — a temperature last reached in 2004. Coolangatta on the Gold Coast broke its October temperature record, with the mercury reaching 38.3 degrees Celsius. At least one daycare provider at Mermaid Waters on the Gold Coast lost power and asked parents to pick up their children about 3pm in Mermaid Waters. There have also been reports of sports and after-school activities being cancelled due to the heat. The Queensland Ambulance Service's Lisa Dibley said paramedics had been responding to increased call volumes due to the storms and "heat-related" illnesses throughout Monday. She said reports of respiratory illnesses had also increased due to the wind and dust that was blowing around. The Capricornia and Wide Bay regions remain at risk on Monday evening, with the potential for damaging winds, large hail and heavy rainfall that could lead to flash flooding. The Bureau of Meterology (BOM) has forecast a cool change and rain for much of the state's east coast on Tuesday, which the QFD was "hopeful" would mean more favourable firefighting conditions. Smoke was expected to linger into Tuesday. "We're not leaving anything to chance, and we're making sure the community feels safe tonight by not just relying on the weather," Mr Moore said.
