Fire continues to burn in the state’s southwest
The Gell River fire – the source of Friday’s smoke haze over Hobart – continues to burn unabated in the state’s west.
Tasmania
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UPDATED: THE immediate threat posed by an out-of-control bushfire near Gell River in Tasmania’s Southwest Wilderness has passed, but affected residents and business owners have vowed to remain vigilant with no end to the blaze in sight.
“We live in paradise, but that can come at a cost,” said Mt Field Waterfalls Cafe & Gallery owner and Derwent Valley councillor, Rachel Power, who attended a community meeting at Maydena Hall yesterday.
“This was a real wake up call and people were reminded to be prepared and have their fire plan ready.
“The fire is still there but there’s currently no immediate threat … We can’t see any smoke or smell any smoke today. It’s not a pinch on what it was. People shouldn’t stay away, they just need to be aware anything could happen.”
Maydena Bike Park reopened yesterday after evacuating 100 riders and 15 workers from the site to the town’s safe place at the old Maydena Primary School on Friday morning.
“We evacuated when the fire risk increased [on Friday] and we did that within 45 minutes,” said the park’s owner, Simon French.
“We reopened [on Saturday morning] on advice from Parks and other agencies that there’s no risk to us. We now have around 100 riders in the park. A lot of these people are interstate riders who had pre-booked.
“We have a couple of thousand acres and emergency access throughout. It’s business as usual. The fire is likely to continue for some weeks so we will be watching it very vigilantly. We will get advice [on the fire] long before the situation changes.”
The fire, which was ignited by a lightning storm that crossed the state on the evening of
December 27, is burning within the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Parks, to the north and east of Lake Rhona.
While the Tasmania Fire Service has said there is currently no threat to communities, the fire remains uncontained. It has so far burnt through more than 15,000ha and is burning mostly buttongrass in steep and rugged terrain.
New methods of fire suppression are being trialled to protect fire-sensitive World Heritage Values such as pencil pines, King Billy pines, peat soils and cushion plants.
The TFS yesterday issued a “Smoke Alert” for National Park, Westerway, Ellendale and surrounds.
EARLIER: People are being warned to protect themselves from smoke from a bushfire still burning in Tasmania’s southwest.
The Gell River fire, about 90km west of Hobart, has burned through more than 15,000ha of bush but no longer poses an immediate risk to properties, the Tasmania Fire Service states.
About 30 personnel and six aircraft are fighting the fire and an advice warning remains in place on Saturday for Maydena, Tyenna, Mt Field, National Park, Bushy Park, Ellendale, Westerway and Fentonbury.
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A smoke alert has also been issued for some of the same locations. People with medical conditions are advised to have a personal plan for avoiding smoke from the burn and people travelling in the area have been advised to drive cautiously, turning on headlights and drive slowly.
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