Thor ready to roar

WATER BOMBER DUMPS 15,000 LITRES IN UNDER A MINUTE

A MASSIVE water bomber has been brought in from interstate to battle a bushfire on Tasmania’s East Coast and protect communities south of St Helens.

The “Thor aircraft” — the civilian version of the C130 Hercules — can disperse 15,000 litres of water in under a minute.

It has come at the request of the Tasmania Fire Service as it implements “aggressive fire control strategies” to fight the bushfire which started at Argonaut Rd, St Helens a week ago.

The blaze has burnt more than 7350ha — much of it in difficult firefighting terrain.

NSW Rural Fire Service airbase manager Mal Grey said the water bomber was used to create a 8000m by 30m “wet line” between a bushfire and properties.

“There will be two pilots, a flight engineer and a lead aircraft to lead the bomber into where it is needed,” Mr Grey said.

It is the second time the bomber has been in the state after helping with last year’s fires in the Cradle Mountain area. The air tanker will focus on protecting the communities of Upper Scamander and Trout Creek, with fire danger predicted to be high today and very high tomorrow.

The fire has threatened Goshen where an emergency warning was put in place last Friday and the blaze came within 50m of poroperties.

State Fire Controller Jer- emy Smith praised the efforts of firefighters to control the fire over the past 10 days, but warned the public to remain vigilant.

“We need communities to be prepared and aware of the fire situation which may change very quickly,” Mr Smith said.

“We encourage people to have their Bushfire Survival Plan in place and if people have not prepared their properties we need them to do so now.”

Community meetings will be held today at Beaumaris playground at 3pm and at Scamander river mouth foreshore at 5.30pm. A meeting will be held at 9am tomorrow at the St Marys Hall.

For regular updates on the bushfire situation go to www.fire.tas.gov.au.