An unprecedented catastrophic fire danger warning, the highest on the scale, was issued for Capricornia, the Central Highlands and Coalfields regions on Wednesday, as about 138 fires burnt across central and north Queensland and dry, hot winds wreaked havoc with firefighting efforts.

On Wednesday afternoon, 8000 people were ordered to evacuate from Gracemere, just outside Rockhampton, without packing belongings due to a fast-moving fire.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk described the conditions as "catastrophic".

"This is the first time we have had this category in Queensland, unprecedented, unchartered," she said.

"This is a very stressful situation for families, I need you to all be strong.

"We need to reach out to other community members who are frail, who are elderly, who have a disability, please listen to authorities, it going to get a lot worse, a lot more intense."

About 3pm, Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said a fast-moving fire was "racing towards Gracemere" from Stanwell.

"If you're picking up the kids, don't go home, go straight to the showgrounds at Rockhampton, you can connect with the rest of your family with our assistance from that position but you'll be safe there," he said.

QFES predictive services inspector Andrew Sturgess said the fire danger for central Queensland would continue into the night.

"There are fires that are now spreading and developing very rapidly," he said.

"There'll be strong winds into the night after sunset tonight. It will not get better."

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster David Grant said there was an increase of dry, westerly winds across the region and very hot temperatures.

"There is the potential for some thunderstorms to occur about eastern parts of south-east Queensland and central Queensland, which in combination with these hot and dry temperatures could produce very dangerous fire weather conditions," he said.

"We may see fire behaviour that has not been seen in Queensland for quite some time, and may not experience ever before."

Fire commissioner Katarina Carroll said people might have only had 20 minutes or less to move when given the order to leave.

"This is evolving now but we expect this to go well into the night, normally you get reprieve at that time, there will be no reprieve for the next several hours," she said.

"We have never, ever in this state been in this situation before, not at a catastrophic level, this is ... unchartered waters."

Dire conditions were expected to continue after 300 firefighters worked to fight more than 130 fires across the state.

Firefighters were flown from South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.

Ms Carroll continued to urge residents in Ambrose, Carmila and Gracemere to listen to local authorities and check their radios and media as they held concerns for what would come overnight.

“The fire at Gracemere, we’ve had the advantage of using the aerial tankers to give us good suppression in that area so that has assisted us greatly however that cannot operate through the night," she said.

Ms Carroll said crews were also being sent to Oxenford, Wamuran and Stradbroke after fires broke out on Wednesday.

Some houses were destroyed at Finch Hatton west of Mackay but crews were unable to assess the damage as it was too dangerous in the area.

There were also bushfires at Kowari Gorge west of Mackay; North Stradbroke Island; Wamuran in south-east Queensland; near Ambrose; and approaching Deepwater, Baffle Creek, Rules Beach and Oyster Creek south of Gladstone.

Emergency Services Minister Craig Crawford warned weather conditions were similar to those experienced in the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires, which killed 75 people in South Australia and Victoria.

On Wednesday morning, state disaster co-ordinator Bob Gee warned residents who had chosen to not evacuate from Baffle Creek, Oyster Creek and Rules Beach could die.

People in about 50 properties in Rules Beach were refusing to leave, although by the afternoon only a "small number" had stayed, as one containment line was broken.

"People will burn to death, their normal approaches most probably won't work if this situation develops the way it is predicted to develop," Mr Gee said.

"The situation is still dire in that area."

At least 38 state schools, including Emerald State School and Wartburg State School, nine early childhood centres and six private schools were closed due to the threat of bushfires.

Schools in the catastrophic fire danger zone would remain closed on Thursday.

- with Toby Crockford and Jocelyn Garcia