‘Volcanic’: Tasmanians urged to leave their homes as bushfires rage
Residents in one state have captured startling photos showing apocalyptic scenes as they confront a complex web of bushfires.
Environment
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Tasmanians are being urged to leave their homes and towns, monitor conditions and prepare to take shelter as a complex web of bushfires burn across the state’s west coast, with one resident describing the fires as “like a volcanic eruption”.
Granville Harbour resident Grant Hodge said the fires closed in on his town overnight Thursday.
“I had a look out to the north and I could still see an orange glow so the fire was obviously still burning at midnight,” he told the ABC on Friday morning.
“We prepared ourselves pretty well. We got hoses run out and water pods filled up, pumps primed up ready to go just in case we had an ember attack … it was a pretty scary situation.
“Daytime turned into dark the sun was completely blocked out.
“It looked like a volcanic eruption.”
The TasAlert map from Friday afternoon showed a sweep of fires hitting the region, with “seek shelter now” and “leave” warnings issued for different locales.
As of 5pm, there was an emergency “seek shelter now” warning in place for Corinna, while residents of Renison Bell were urged to “monitor conditions as they are changing”.
The Tasmania Fire Service advised residents of Granville Harbour to prepare to take shelter and for residents in Pieman Heads, Conical Rocks and Sandy Cape to monitor conditions.
Residents of Savage River were advised to “be aware of ember attacks”.
Photos posted to the Remine (Trial Harbour) social media page on Thursday evening show orange clouds hanging over the beach as nearby bushfires burn.
One commenter called the scene “armageddon”.
Another photo taken by a resident driving from Granville Harbour towards Zeehan on Thursday shows a bushfire burning near the road, with vehicle headlights pushing through the dark smoke.
Tasmania Fire Service deputy incident controller Scott Vinen said the service had deployed 30 aircraft, more than 50 firefighters and six bulldozers to battle the blazes.
Operators from the NSW Rural Fire Service are transforming Tullah Oval into a new base camp for firefighters.
Conditions appeared to improve across Friday.
State Fire Commander Jeremy Smith said multiple warnings were downgraded from emergency warnings to “watch and act” in the state’s northwest overnight Thursday, but he asked members of the public to remain vigilant.
“Encouragingly, bushfire conditions have moderated overnight, however we advise residents and members of the public to remain alert and keep up to date with the latest emergency information through TasAlert,” he said.
“We have been dealing with very dynamic conditions on the fireground due to strong winds and high fire dangers and we encourage all members of the public, especially those in the affected areas, to keep up to date with the latest emergency information.
“Our main fires of concern are at Yellowband Plain, Pieman River, Mt Donaldson and Canning Peak fires.
“An Emergency Warning remains in place for Corrina and surrounds.”
Smoke from the fires are also impacting southern Tasmania, the service added.
A smoke alert has been issued for the state’s Midlands and Northern Region in response to changing wind directions.
Originally published as ‘Volcanic’: Tasmanians urged to leave their homes as bushfires rage
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