Fire service says threat rated ‘normal’ across most of Tassie

Rapid vegetation growth during Tasmania’s recent spate of wet and warm weather could pose an added bushfire risk for property owners, the Tasmania Fire Service says.

RAPID vegetation growth during Tasmania’s recent spate of wet and warm weather could pose an added bushfire risk for property owners, the Tasmania Fire Service says.

The service’s bushfire risk mitigation manager Chris Collins said the fire threat was still predicted to be “normal” across most of the state, although sudden growth may have heightened risk in some areas.

“Fine fuels, such as grasses, have responded quickly to moist soils and warmer weather resulting in flushes of growth which will start drying out in some areas given the recent warm weather,” Mr Collins said.

Bushfire at Grove in the Huon Valley in 2016. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

“This is an important factor in determining bushfire risk. Now is the time to cut and remove these fuels, before they cure.”

Mr Collins said recent rainfalls had brought much of the state’s moisture levels to what would be considered normal for early summer, but that situation could change quickly.

“Only a relatively short warm and dry spell is needed to return some areas to ‘above normal’ conditions,” he said.

Recent rains have slightly improved conditions in parts of Tasmania’s drought-stricken East Coast, although the area’s bushfire risk is still considered “above normal”.

“We live in a bushfire prone state and ‘normal’ means we will get bushfires,” Mr Collins said.

The most parched areas, with a Soil Dryness Index (the amount of rain needed for soils to be saturated) of above 100mm are in the Derwent Valley and the southeast.

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The driest areas are Bushy Park (SDI of 104.1mm), Hobart Airport (SDI of 103.5mm) and Dunalley (101.4mm). Today, residents in the Hobart municipality can take advantage of the garden waste free entry at McRobies Gully Waste Management Centre, to assist in the preparation of properties for bushfire season.

Residents can drop off garden waste today from 10am to 4pm. Domestic quantities of waste will be accepted, for example a standard ute load or box trailer.

To gain free entry, people will need to show a driver’s licence to the tollbooth operator to verify they are a resident of the City of Hobart.

Mr Collins said people did not need to be in, or directly adjacent to, the bush to be at risk from bushfire.

“Embers can travel long distances, and our experience shows that houses many hundreds of metres away from the bush can be damaged or destroyed by bushfire,” he said.