Fire fears as scorcher hits Tasmania
The Tasmania Fire Service has taken the unusual step of declaring three total fire ban days in one week, with more than 50 fires already burning and more hot weather on the way.
Tasmania
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THE Tasmania Fire Service has taken the unusual step of declaring three total fire ban days in one week, with more than 50 fires already burning and more hot weather on the way.
The TFS will declare total fire bans for tomorrow, Thursday and Friday this week as temperatures head into the low to mid 30s across Northern, Southern and Central Tasmania.
A watch and act alert remained in place last night for the Great Lake township of Miena, with forecast winds pushing the fire at Great Pine Tier towards it.
A smoke alert was issued for Northern Tasmania with winds pushing smoke north from the Great Pine Tier fire. Smoke is likely to be visible over the next few days.
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TFS chief officer Chris Arnol said forecast weather conditions on this week’s total fire ban days would make containing existing fires and stopping new fires extremely difficult.
“This week our community needs to be prepared for some very challenging fire weather conditions,” Mr Arnol said.
“Despite the enormous amount of hard work and success we have had to date, Tasmanians should be aware that any of the fires we currently have could break their containment lines and burn uncontrollably.”
Mr Arnol said very high fire danger was expected in the north and south of the state tomorrow, with very high fire danger across most of the state on Thursday and Friday.
“These forecast conditions are going to put our current containment lines under great stress, and with a number of fires still uncontrolled the likelihood of fires escaping is very high.
“I want to stress that the last thing we need is any new fires starting as this will place a huge burden on our resources.”
Areas subject to advice alerts last night due to nearby bushfires were in the Tahune and surrounds, the Lake Fergus area, and the Maydena area.
Police Minister Michael Ferguson urged Tasmanians to heed the advice of emergency services.
“All agencies involved in these fires have the Government’s continued support to do whatever is necessary to address the ongoing threat these fires pose,” Mr Ferguson said.
“I’m advised considerable operational effort has been spent on securing vulnerable edges on priority fires, and capturing good incident intelligence.”
A total of 115 interstate and New Zealand fire service personnel were set to arrive in Tasmania by the end of yesterday to assist with the fight.
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