Emergency Services Minister Michael Ferguson urges people to heed Tasmanian fire warnings
Tasmanians should heed the advice of emergency services as more than 50 fires continue to burn across Tasmania, Police Minister Michael Ferguson says.
Tasmania
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THE Tasmania Fire Service will declare total fire bans on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday this week.
TFS chief officer Chris Arnol said forecast weather conditions on those 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.
“In spite of 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,” he said.
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Mr Arnol said very high fire danger was expected in the North and South of the state on Tuesday, 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.
Police Minister Michael Ferguson has urged Tasmanians to heed the advice of emergency services as more than 50 fires continue to burn across the state, with one watch and act message and three advice messages issued.
“Our hardworking and dedicated firefighters are continuing to do an incredible job in these difficult conditions to ensure Tasmanians are safe and property is protected,” Mr Ferguson said.
“With ongoing hot weather conditions across the state, it is imperative all Tasmanians heed the advice of our professional firefighters to ensure they do not put themselves, or others in danger.
The fires that remain of concern are those in the Tahune and surrounds; Lake Fergus, which remains uncontained and on inaccessible land; Miena; and Gell River.
“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.
There will be a total of 115 interstate and New Zealand personnel in Tasmania, by the end of today, to assist with the fires.
For more fire information go to the TFS website.
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