Two homes, one shed and a car have been destroyed by a bushfire that is currently burning at Dolphin Sands on Tasmania’s east coast – and firefighters expect to find ‘other impacted structures’ this afternoon.
Acting Chief Officer at the Tasmania Fire Service Jeremy Smith said investigations are continuing into the cause of the blaze, as well as other damage that may have occurred to power lines, fences and homes.
“We believe there will be other structures that have been impacted by the fire. Not destroyed but certainly impacted,” Smith said.
“The fire is contained, however, there’s still a lot of work to do.”
It is estimated that “about 120 hectares” of “coastal heath” has been burnt, with access to “very difficult areas” making it hard for crews to “fully extinguish”.
“We have aerial assets assigned to the fire, looking at both water bombing and ensuring that all the intel is gathered, [so] our crews can respond accordingly.”
Smith said the weather on Sunday afternoon “wasn’t extreme or even high-fire danger” and put the quick spreading of the blaze down to being a “wind-driven event” that started around 6pm and soon went into emergency warning status.
Tasmania Police Commander Jason Elmer is reminding locals that the majority of Dolphin Sands Road remains closed to all non-emergency vehicles and asked people “who would be very keen to get in and check their properties” to be patient.
“Once the firefighting operation is ceased and the road is safe to open, it will be opened and we’ll allow people back in, but we just ask people to be patient for the time being while that occurs,” Elmer said.
Around 25 people were evacuated from the eastern point of the Dolphin Sands spit on Monday morning to a nearby safer place at the Swansea Recreation Ground and an evacuation centre at the Swansea Town Hall.
A community meeting with representatives from Tasmania Fire Service is scheduled to be held at the corner of Dolphin Sands Road and Cambria Drive at 3pm today.
The Tasmania Fire Service ask anyone seeking more information to contact the Bushfire Information Hotline on 1800 000 699 or to visit tasalert.com.
Several homes destroyed in devastating Dolphin Sands bushfire
The Tasmania Fire Service have confirmed ‘several properties’ have been destroyed by the bushfire at Dolphin Sands on the state’s East Coast overnight, including at least two homes and one shed.
The fire is still not under control, with 30 firefighters working to battle the blaze.
One fire fighter has been treated for smoke inhalation, but its understood no members of the public have been injured.
Powerlines are down in the area, affecting properties in Cranbrook, Dolphin Sands and parts of Swansea.
The TFS say they have now “safely escorted” 24 people who were gathered at the Dolphin Sands boat ramp at the end of the spit. They say Tasmania Police stayed with the group overnight.
Approximately 7 people have presented to the evacuation centre at 12 Franklin Street in Swansea.
The TFS say weather conditions impacting the Dolphin Sands fire are moderating “and the spread of the fire has slowed”.
Overnight crews are now being rested, with fresh crews being deployed today.
The fire started at 6pm, with strong winds rapidly fanning the spread.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
The fire has now been downgraded to Watch & Act.
EARLIER: The TFS say it is now “too late to leave” the affected area, with the bushfire currently endangering homes in the vicinity, and are urging those near the blaze to “seek shelter immediately”.
Spokesperson Peter Middleton said the “very active fire” is currently burning to the east, along the Dolphin Sands Peninsula, from Yellow Sandbanks Road towards the end of the spit.
He said flames were reaching “5 metres” in height in some areas, with more than 12 firetrucks working to “protect houses and people and property”.
“This is very much a wind-driven fire that’s intensely burning along that spit in very dry, coastal heathy vegetation,” Middleton said.
“We don’t know at this stage about how many houses or shacks or properties are directly impacted, but there’s certainly people in the area and our priority at the moment is protecting people and those properties.”
He said weather conditions were “very erratic” and urged people to “seek shelter where they are or to go down to the beach well away from vegetation”.
An evacuation centre is open at the Swansea Town Hall, while a nearby safer place can be found at the Swansea recreation ground for people that left the area before Dolphin Sands Road was closed.
“We’ll continue to be throwing as many resources at this as possible and be working to protect lives and property,” he said.
TasNetworks say the fire has also brought down power lines, cutting power to around 400 households in Cranbrook, Dolphin Sands and parts of Swansea.
