Upper Derwent Valley towns included in increased TFS alert

A Westerway family is preparing to evacuate their home as the TFS extends its high alert area to include the upper Derwent Valley.

A WESTERWAY family has spent the day preparing to evacuate their home as the threat of fire looms closer.

Daniel Horvath and Julia Stroh – along with their three children – have said they would leave their home near Mt Field National Park if the town was evacuated.

The Tasmanian Fire Service upgraded the alert level of the upper Derwent Valley townships of Bushy Park, Ellendale, Westerway and Fentonbury on Friday afternoon to ‘Watch and Act’ to prepare residents for a possible evacuation.

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Mr Horvath said as soon as the road block was moved further east from its current location at Gordon River Rd, they would go.

Westerway resident Daniel Horvath hosing down his property during the Gell River fire. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

The road has been closed near the old railway station to westbound traffic, with only local traffic allowed through.

The family has packed their two dogs, two cats, a guinea pig, a rabbit, as well as valuables and are ready to leave.

They couple, who have lived in Westerway for two years, were this afternoon watering their garden.

Mr Horvath said he checked their insurance earlier in the morning to ensure it was current.

“If the ash begins to turn orange, we’ll start wetting the house,” he said.

“I have no real fear the house will go, it’s mainly just for our safety and oxygen, which is why we’ll go.”

By 2pm smoke had blanketed Westerway and ash was falling in the area.

Mr Hovarth said they had received offers to stay with friends and would evacuate to Gretna if needed.

Tasmania Fire Service is responding to a bushfire at Gell River, North West of Maydena.

Smoke and ash is visible across several roads in the greater Derwent Valley area including the Lyell... https://t.co/6161lT5WEb

— Tasmania Police (@TasmaniaPolice) January 4, 2019

Dean Stoeckel, owner of the Blue Wren Riverside Cottages in Westerway said the biggest worry was embers igniting grass or the bush in nearby paddocks.

“We’re just trying to wet down things but as soon as they tell us to go, we’re leaving,” he said.

“There’s ash all over the roof, the smoke has come out a bit quicker than we expected.

“I can see the police at the end of the street from here so when they start running, I should be running with them I assume.”

He said he had never seen the town so smoky in his more than 12 years of living there.

The TFS warns that embers, smoke and ash can threaten homes earlier than the main fire.

Well-prepared homes are defendable in these conditions but people unprepared for a bushfire should consider leaving if it gets more dangerous.

Households are asked to check their bushfire survival plans.