A woman has been winched to safety from a burning bushfire in southern Tasmania after firefighting aircraft spotted her waving a towel in distress.
The Tasmania Fire Service was alerted to the blaze west of Huonville around 2pm on Monday and dispatched ground crews and aircraft to the remote location.
When pilots arrived on scene, they noticed the woman trapped within the fire’s footprint.
“The pilot considered landing to evacuate the person but due to lack of landing sites, they decided to call in the winch rescue helicopter to perform a winch rescue,” Tasmania Fire Service deputy chief officer Matt Lowe said.
While waiting for the rescue chopper, firefighting aircraft dropped water around the woman to shield her from the flames.
“We were able to safely embed them within the fire operations, conduct the rescue while still performing firefighting duties,” Lowe said.
The woman has been located at the heel of the fire in an area already burnt, but faced potential danger from wind changes and radiant heat.
Acting Commander Andrew Keane from Tasmania Police said officers were notified through their shared radio network at 3:15pm.
“This person appeared to be in distress and was waiting for assistance,” he said.
The rescue helicopter reached the scene within 15 minutes and winched the woman to safety.
She was flown to the Ranelagh Showgrounds, where paramedics assessed her as uninjured.
Police said they do not yet know why the woman was in the area.
Lowe praised the coordination between emergency services, calling it “a good story for the member of the public and obviously for the emergency services”.
He said while agencies train for such scenarios, this has been the first real-life rescue of its kind in his experience.
The bushfire remains uncontained and has burnt approximately 25 hectares on Sustainable Timber Tasmania land.
Aircraft will continue firefighting operations until dark, with resources to be reassessed tomorrow.
A bushfire advice alert has been issued for the area, with residents urged to monitor conditions.
