Bushfires impacting Tasmanian tourism operators in Southwest National Park
UPDATED: A smoke warning has been issued for vast tracts of southern Tasmania as firefighters continue to battle about 70 fires in some of the state’s most remote places.
Tasmania
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UPDATED: A SMOKE warning has been issued for vast tracts of southern Tasmania as firefighters continue to battle about 70 fires in some of the state’s most remote places.
Issuing an alert at 10.10am today, the Tasmania Fire Service said the fires were posing no threat to communities but the impact of smoke was widespread.
“There may be smoke and ash … visible around the Derwent Valley, Greater Hobart area, Huon Valley, Bruny Island and D’Entrecasteaux Channel,” the TFS said.
Firefighters are striving to get on top of scores of the blazes ahead of worsening weather conditions expected at the weekend.
Tasmania Fire Service Chief Officer Chris Arnol says 50 fires are still raging but 20 blazes have been contained thanks to milder weather.
“Our strategy of hitting these fires hard and fast with aircraft ahead of ground crews where access allows, continues to be successful,” Mr Arnol said.
“This brief respite has been vital ahead of expected worsening fire weather conditions over the coming weekend.”
FIREYS BATTLE TO STOP FIRES MERGING
SOUTH-WEST BUSHWALKERS FLOWN TO SAFETY
Just one millimetre of rain is forecast to fall in Hobart on Friday and less than 0.5mm over the weekend.
The service cannot fight the blazes alone, requesting at least another 80 interstate firefighters in addition to the 50 already on secondment to the island state.
“Those personnel will be needed in the areas that we have been working in, that is, those remote fire tactics,” Mr Arnol said, noting they also wanted specialist fire behaviour analysts.
Aerial patrols are still monitoring many fires in close proximity in far Southwest Tasmania.
The state’s major fires remain a blaze which has burnt more than 20,000ha of wilderness near Gell River northwest of Hobart since it started on December 28 and another near Lake Fergus in the state’s centre.
Both are uncontained but pose no immediate threat to life or property.
People with medical conditions are advised to have a personal plan for avoiding smoke from the burn.
Advice is available from the Department of Health or the Asthma Foundation of Tasmania websites.
People travelling in bushfire-affected areas should exercise caution if driving in smoke. Turn on your headlights and drive slowly.
If you live in the area of the fire, stay informed in case conditions change by monitoring local radio stations and the Tasmania Fire Service.
EARLIER: TOUR operators in the state’s South-West have been hit hard as bushfires continue to burn across the region.
Dozens of bushwalkers have been evacuated since Tuesday as more than 30 fires burn in the Southwest National Park.
Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service operations manager Mark Bryce said their current priority was the extraction of bushwalkers.
Walkers have been rescued from the Mt Anne circuit, Huon Track, Arthur Plains and Frankland Range, with the Western and Eastern Arthur ranges still being assessed.
A Tasmanian Wilderness Experiences spokesman said they had four customers evacuated by helicopter on Wednesday.
He said up to 20 customers they had scheduled for transport to the South-West could be affected in coming weeks.
Wild Pedder tours said they had contingency plans in place if fires affected their itineraries.
Roaring 40s Kayaking said they were still operating as normal with a trip due to leave on Sunday.
Destination Southern Tasmania chief executive Alex Heroys said the immediate priority was the safety of visitors and the community.
“An emergency in any area will affect the economic viability of all industries, not just tourism,” he said.
“Small industry operators will be feeling this particularly hard … they are the backbone of Tasmanian tourism.
“We need to make sure we get behind operators and the local community that are doing it tough to ensure they recover as quickly as possible.”
Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said the fires were causing some disruption to visitor experiences.
“Fighting the fires is the priority right now, we’ll take stock with the operators affected over coming weeks,” he said.
jack.paynter@news.com.au
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