Media Releases
| LAKE MACKINTOSH FIRE STILL ACTIVE DESPITE RAIN 05/02/2010 |
| 1700 Hrs |
| URGENT PUBLIC SAFETY WARNING 05/02/2010 |
| 1630 Hrs |
| WAYATINAH FIRE UPDATE 05/02/2010 |
| 1530 hrs |
| MACKINTOSH FIRE UPDATE 05/02/2010 |
| |
| 2010 Tour of Duty Trans American Relay Run 02/02/2010 |
| |
| TOTAL FIRE BAN FOR SOUTHERN TASMANIA 30/01/2010 |
| For Sunday 31st of January 2010 |
| LAUNDRY FIRE 19/12/2009 |
| Toosey Hospital, Longford. |
LAKE MACKINTOSH FIRE STILL ACTIVE DESPITE RAIN
1700 Hrs
05/02/2010
Residents of West Coast towns are advised that smoke will be an issue on Saturday as a result of the Lake Mackintosh fire.
Incident controller Chris Arthur said that the fire was able to be accurately mapped today and during that exercise fire activity was observed on a large percentage of the fire edge.
“This fire will not go out until sustained rainfall saturates the ground under the rainforest canopy,” Mr Arthur said.
“The fire is currently not threatening the township of Tullah, however we advise the residents of Tullah and other West Coast towns that there will still be smoke from the fire, particularly on Saturday when the weather changes to easterly winds.”
Residents will continue to be updated from the TFS website as conditions change.
Mr Arthur said that tomorrow crews will be deployed to the southern edge of the fire to deal with a number of small spot fires with the objective being to establish a contained edge near the lake.
“The fire is smouldering in and under old rainforest in very inaccessible country and there is a risk to fire fighters due to the difficult terrain and tall vegetation,” he said.
Currently the fire poses no risk to Cradle Valley, and the Reynolds Falls track and Mt Cripps tracks are closed until further notice.
The fire edge is approx 60kms and the size of the fire is 3400ha.
For further information and updates to go the Tasmania Fire Service website at: www.fire.tas.gov.au, and www.parks.tas.gov.au
1630 Hrs
05/02/2010
Members of the public are accessing places where people camp along the Broad River and Repulse Dam areas. These are within the fire boundaries and may become extremely hazardous.
People will be putting themselves at great RISK if they DO NOT heed this warning. Closed road must only be entered by Fire Crews and local residents.
People are asked to stay out of these areas until further notice and Tasmania Police will be actively patrolling the area enforcing this over the long weekend.
Again members of the public should be aware that, an expected rise in temperature is predicted from Sunday onwards and people in close proximity should be making preparations for this. Go to the TFS website for more information on preparing your property or call the toll free number 1800 000 699.
Road closures: Long Spur Rd (B Station Rd), Florentine Rd, Dawsons Rd, and the southern end of Catagunya Rd. All traffic on these roads is restricted to fire fighting crews and local residents.
Monitor Local ABC Radio and TFS websites – www.fire.tas.gov.au for further instructions
1530 hrs
05/02/2010
The Wayatinah fire continues to burn and has grown to around 6200 hectares in size. The main fire is between Wayatinah and Repulse Dam. The spot fire between Broad River and Repulse Dam remains within containment lines.
The Eastern flank of the fire and spot fires have been contained and crews will continue mop and patrol to make these areas safe. The fire has reached the repulse camping ground.
32 Remote Area Team personnel from Parks and Tasmania Fire Service are being deployed to areas that are inaccessible to vehicles over the next week. Back burning will be commencing again this afternoon and into tomorrow. Increased smoke activity will be visible west of Lake Repulse as a result. Due to variable winds this may affect communities of Ouse, Hamilton, Ellendale Wayatinah Westerway and Maydena.
An expected rise in temperature is predicted from Sunday onwards and people should be making preparations for this. Go to the TFS website for more information on preparing your property or call the toll free number 1800 000 699.
Road closures: Long Spur Rd (B Station Rd), Florentine Rd, Dawsons Rd (North of Pillies-Dawson Link Rd), and the southern end of Catagunya Rd. All traffic on these roads is restricted to fire fighting crews and local residents.
Mt Field National Park is open and all areas to the Park are accessible. Lake Dobson Road has been re-opened.
Community meetings are planned for Ouse School and Hamilton Hall for Saturday the 6th of February. These meeting times and venues will be broadcast on ABC radio and other media from Friday afternoon.
Times:
Ouse 10:00 am
Hamilton 2:00 pm
Monitor Local ABC Radio and TFS websites – www.fire.tas.gov.au for further instructions.
05/02/2010
Overnight rain on the Lake Mackintosh fire has temporarily cleared smoke from the Tullah and Rosebery areas, and allowed equipment abandoned by fire fighters earlier in the week to be flown from the fireground.
Incident Controller Chris Arthur said that 12 mm of rain was recorded on Thursday night, which has given crews the opportunity to service equipment and ready themselves for a predicted increase in fire behaviour next week.
“We’re really emphasising that this fire will not go out until sustained rainfall saturates the ground under the rainforest canopy” he said.
“Unfortunately that sort of rain isn’t expected any time soon, so we have to be prepared to be here for the long haul”, Mr Arthur said.
The fire remains at about 4,400 ha, with a perimeter of 45 km.
While smoke has abated, a return to warmer conditions at the weekend is expected to see an increase in smoke-related issues, and West Coast residents are advised to check the Tasmania Fire Service website if they have any concerns.
2010 Tour of Duty Trans American Relay Run
02/02/2010
On Friday, 5 February 2010, Station Officer Steve Percival from the Hobart Fire Brigade will be appearing on the Channel 7 Sunrise Program. At approximately 0640 hours Steve, and a team of 15 other selected firefighters from every state and territory in Australia, will be running across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The run is to draw public attention to the 2010 Tour of Duty Trans American relay run which will conclude in New York City at the site of the destroyed World Trade Centre buildings.
The Tour of Duty run is to commemorate the 9th anniversary of 9/11 and to remember the 411 emergency service personnel that lost their lives. The run will start in Los Angeles during the first week in August 2010; over the next 30 days the team will relay run over 7400 kilometres finishing on 11 September in New York City.
The event was officially launched on the 8th anniversary last year when the team converged in Melbourne. On that occasion the team met with the American Consul General then later appeared on the Sunrise show. The following evening they did a lap of the MCG before a capacity crowd at a finals match.
The patron of the run is ex Prime Minister John Howard and it has also been endorsed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Pat Rafter and Hugh Jackman have also shown support of the event and Hugh will run on the last leg over the Brooklyn Bridge.
TOTAL FIRE BAN FOR SOUTHERN TASMANIA
For Sunday 31st of January 2010
30/01/2010
A Total Fire Ban has been declared for the Southern Region (the municipalities of Brighton, Central Highlands, Clarence, Derwent Valley, Glamorgan/Spring Bay, Glenorchy, Hobart, Huon Valley, Kingborough, Sorell, Southern Midlands and Tasman) from midnight, 30th January 2010, until midnight (2400hrs) 31th January 2010.
Acting Deputy Chief Officer Tony Davidson said: “Due to Sunday’s Bureau of Meteorology forecast for hot, dry and windy conditions for the Derwent Valley, lower Midlands and other areas in the South, the Tasmania Fire Service has banned all fires out of doors in the Southern Region. The vegetation across the state has dried out measurably despite recent scattered light rain. The forecasted high temperatures which are predicted to be in the mid thirties coupled with strong winds will cause fires to develop in size very quickly and be difficult to control”.
He added that “There are a number of fires across the state that have been burning for a considerable period and they are consuming firefighting resources. In addition to this, we know that fires have started on Total Fire Ban days this fire season because of carless work practices. The ban includes the use, in the open, of cutting, welding or other similar equipment that can cause a fire.”
“Although the use of agricultural machinery, for the purpose of harvesting crops or slashing grass, is not included in this ban operators are requested to take particular care when using this type of machinery”
Mr Davidson said: “There are significant penalties that can be imposed on anyone not adhering to the Total Fire Ban restrictions and Tasmania Police are planning to conduct regular patrols”.
The Tasmania Fire Service encourages everyone living in and around the bush to review their bushfire plan and be prepared to implement that plan if required.
All fires should be reported by dialling '000'.
Toosey Hospital, Longford.
19/12/2009
At 7:30 this morning the Tasmanian Fire Service was alerted to a fire in the laundry at Toosey Hospital, Longford.
Brigades from Longford, Perth and Launceston were responded to find a fire originating in an industrial clothes drier had been contained by the installed sprinkler system.
The quick action by Toosey employees, local brigades and combined with the action of the sprinker system, reduced the impact of the fire to minor smoke and water damage to the laundry and kitchen area to a value of approximately $15,000.
