Catastrophe in Tasmania
Stranded visitors flee raging fires by boat Towns cut off as flames destroy properties
PARTS OF Tasmania’s east coast were last night cut off by bushfires as a blaze on the Tasman Peninsula continued to burn out of control.
The east coast holiday town of Coles Bay was isolated yesterday afternoon by a fire the Tasmania Fire Service had upgraded to ‘‘very high risk’’ emergency warning.
More than a dozen properties had been lost south of Bicheno, and Coles Bay Rd, south of Apsley River, and the Tasman Highway, south of Tower Hill, were at risk as residents braced themselves for a second night of bushfire horror.
The Tasman Peninsula fire that claimed at least 80 properties and left thousands of people isolated on Friday night was still burning out of control yesterday afternoon.
The main access road, the Arthur Highway, remained closed. Police and commercial boats were providing a lifeline for those stranded by the blazes as they were being used to ferry in supplies and ferry out people most in need.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the federal government was supporting the fire effort.
‘‘My message is there’s only one you. Everything else in life at the end of the day, no matter how precious, can be replaced. What can’t be replaced is a human life,’’ Gillard told ABC radio.
Insurers declared the bushfirehit towns a catastrophe and police powers were increased when the Tasman Peninsula was declared a serious-incident site.
The Insurance Industry Council of Australia’s declaration included the towns of Dunalley, Connellys Marsh, Forcett – where residents were last night told it was too late to leave after the fire service upgraded a nearby bushfire to an emergency warning level with a ‘‘high’’ danger rating – Copping, Murdunna, Boomer Bay, Primrose Sands, Susans Bay, Eaglehawk Neck and Taranna.
Property losses from the peninsula fire have been huge, with 30 per cent of the buildings in the small community of Dunalley, 55km southeast of Hobart, destroyed. These included the school, police station and bakery. At Connellys Marsh, 40 per cent of the buildings are gone and 20 houses have been lost around Murdunna.
Several thousand people, many of them tourists, are stranded with access roads closed.
Last night New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said there were records of six Kiwis in Tasmania but none had requested help. Around 700 were taking refuge at the Port Arthur historic site, another 2000 at a community centre at Nubeena and more than 50 at the Dunalley pub.
Up to 1000 people were reported to have been rescued from beaches by boat overnight.
No deaths or serious have been confirmed.
A fire in the Derwent Valley northwest of Hobart was last night affecting the communities of Ellendale and Karanja, but the extent of property damage was unknown.
Conditions across southern Tasmania yesterday were cooler than on Friday, when Hobart reached 41.8C — its hottest since record keeping began in 1883.
State fire chief Mike Brown said similar conditions in 1967 had resulted in the loss of 2000 homes and 62 lives. ‘‘ I would imagine there’ll be numerous stories about the heroic and risky approaches that were taken out there,’’ he said.
‘‘The big outcome for us ... is that at the moment there looks to be no loss of life or injuries.’’
He said this was because of the way ‘‘we put out our warnings, and clearly a lot of people did heed those warnings’’.
People concerned about relatives and friends can call a police hotline on 1800 567 567.
injuries
Bushfires continued to burn across Victoria and South Australia as the scorching temperatures experienced during the past week eased.
Firefighters were still battling an out-of-control blaze at Kentbruck, in the Victoria’s southwest, which has so far burned more than 2040 hectares. The fire generated significant amounts of smoke, but no properties were threatened.
Bushfires at Ensay, in east Gippsland, and at Port Albert, near Lakes Entrance, were being controlled as conditions across the state cooled after the temperature soared above 40C on Friday.
Sale in eastern Victoria recorded its second hottest day on record with the mercury hitting 44.3C.
Around 50 fire crews were monitoring flare-ups from a controlled bushfire on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula as the threat of more fires across the state eased following the extraordinary heat on Friday. Wudinna, on the Eyre Peninsula, hit a sweltering 48.2C and the northern town of Tarcoola recording 47.4C.
Three teenagers have been charged with deliberately lighting bushfires over the past two days in Newcastle, in New South Wales. Police say they have charged the boys, aged 15, 16 and 17. All the blazes were quickly extinguished by fire crews, police said. The 15 and 16-year-olds were granted bail and will face a Children’s Court on February 5. The 17-year-old boy was refused bail and will face Parramatta Children’s Court on Saturday.