A large bushfire burning in the state’s south has scorched more than 480 hectares and is expected to take several weeks to fully contain.
The fire around Margate and Snug Tiers, which started on Tuesday, is currently being fought by 60 personnel, 10 aircraft and 7 bulldozers.
Tasmania Fire Service Deputy Incident Controller Adam Salter said the fire hasn’t spread significantly in the last 48 hours and is unlikely to grow in the coming days.
“We’re encouraged by what we’ve been able to do over the last couple of days, but that’s not to say we’re out of the woods,” he said.
“We do have some fire weather coming, we have a period of three or four days in the mid-30s in temperature.”
Salter said the fire is being contained using mineral earth dozer lines and back-burning techniques.
“We’ve been able to manage it and it hasn’t spread too much further,” he said.
“We’ve been able to conduct some back-burning to make sure that we contain this to its current boundary.”
Despite the current favourable conditions, Salter said the fire could escalate quickly due to unpredictable Tasmanian weather.
“We’re not expecting strong winds until perhaps Tuesday where they get a little stronger and we’ll manage as we go day by day.”
Hundreds gathered at Margate Primary School tonight for a community meeting to get an update on the situation.
A smoke alert and advice warning remains in place for Margate and surrounding areas.
The Snug Tiers Track and Pelverata Falls Track are closed to the public.
