Tamar Valley ablaze

Fire crews protect homes, property

A FAST-spreading bushfire covering more than 250ha near Winkleigh in the Tamar Valley was slowed in its tracks by Tasmania Fire Service air and ground attacks last night.

Regional Fire Controller Ian Bounds said crews began pounding the fire with about 20 fire truck crews on the scene within half an hour of the outbreak.

The cause of the blaze is understood to have been accidental.

Mr Bounds said four water bombing helicopters and two fixed-wing water bomber aircraft had joined a total of 30 fire units in a successful effort to keep the fire away from private property.

He said hot conditions had eased and by 4pm the threat level had been downgraded from emergency to watch and act.

Nine fire crews positioned themselves between four homes and surrounding bush at a Winkleigh property through the evening, with flames expected to close in by 9pm from the north.

Dilston Brigade Chief Raz Stowe said the fire was “having a crack”.

“We’re basically waiting for the fire to come in from the edge of the bush along the paddocks,” he said. “We’ve got multiple properties within a bull’s roar of the fire itself, so we’re just setting up for asset protection and watching for the embers as they drop in.”

Mr Stowe said firefighters had scoped out the area “and [the fires] are coming”.

Wallabies were seen hopping away from the smokefilled bushland.

“We concentrate on assets first. We can’t really attack the fire directly, it’s too intense,” Mr Stowe said.

Residents who were unable to help were evacuated, while the property owner, a firefighter himself, stayed to defend his home.

Conditions eased at about 6pm enabling the crews to conduct back burns along the bush edge and the alert level was lowered to advice.

But Mr Stowe said the main fire would still reach the Winkleigh

property by 9pm and crews would still be on patrol at least until midnight.

Mr Bounds said the fire had been burning through quite hilly areas, but was “coming out onto open flat ground which will provide an opportunity to contain the fire and bring it under control”.

“We are seeing a front crossing Tasmania now and this should ease fire conditions over the next few hours and we are comfortable at this point in time that properties are being protected,” he said.

“We believe there has been no property loss.’’

Mr Bounds said as many as 10 mostly farming properties had been “under risk at any one time”.

TFS urged people to exercise extreme caution when using equipment and machinery that may cause sparks.