Firefighters have contained a bushfire that destroyed two homes and burned 1,300 hectares of land near St Helens on Tasmania’s east coast.
Crews are now working to clear St Helens Point Road, which remains closed after the blaze tore through the Stieglitz and Dianas Basin area on Tuesday night.
Tasmania Fire Service Incident Controller David Casteller said on Thursday morning that conditions had improved overnight.
“We haven’t had any damage since the fire went through on Tuesday night, so our crews have done a fantastic job to limit any further damage,” he said.
“Given the challenging conditions on Tuesday night, the outcome could have been far worse.”
“While losing two structures is sobering, our crews worked tirelessly under extremely difficult circumstances to prevent the situation from becoming much more severe.”
Two residential properties on St Helens Point Road were destroyed, along with several outbuildings and caravans.
Casteller said reopening the road and removing dangerous trees were the top priorities on Thursday.
“Our other key focus is going to be dealing with some dangerous trees that were impacted by the fire,” he said.
More than 60 personnel, 22 appliances and four helicopters remained on the fireground on Thursday morning.
Crews from the Tasmania Fire Service, Parks and Wildlife Service and Sustainable Timber Tasmania are working to keep the blaze within its current boundaries.
Three teams from the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre are also on site, assisting with fire suppression and assessing cultural heritage in the Dianas Basin area, Casteller said.
‘Watch and Act’ warnings remain in place for Parkside, Parnella, Stieglitz, Dianas Basin and Flagstaff Hill.
A smoke alert has been issued for St Helens, Stieglitz and Akaroa.
Residents are urged to stay vigilant and report any fire activity to triple zero.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
