Tasmanian towns braced for bushfires

The north-west Tasmanian town of St Marys is under imminent threat from bushfires, with the next four hours expected to be critical.
Fire was 'impacting' houses at Irish Town, however none had been lost yet today, Danny Reid from the Tasmanian Fire Service's Fire Management Unit said.

"At the moment the fire is still being driven south of Scamander and St Marys is next in line," Mr Reid said.

"We are currently doing an assessment to determine which houses can defend and which ones are too risky, we believe that there are quite a few."

He said anyone whose house backed onto bush was under threat.

"The fire has reached the top of St Marys Pass, 4-5 km from St Marys and the situation for the town will depend on how the wind moves in the next few hours."

North-easterly winds have been steady all afternoon and were measured at 40km/h, Mr Reid said. The fire has burnt 11,500 hectares and the fire front was 70km wide.

Heavy smoke was affecting the St Marys township and it was expected St Marys would be subjected to an ember shower within the next 1-2 hours.

St Marys is the last major township in the area, Mr Reid said. However, if the fire extended around Elephant Pass to Douglas-Apsley National Park, it could reach Bicheno as there was nothing in the National Park that firefighters could use as a firebreak.

Firefighters estimated 17 houses were damaged in the Scamander area yesterday, but no deaths or injuries have been reported.

Assessment of the area was continuing.

At 11.00am, 135 firefighters, 40 tankers and five bulldozers were battling the blaze, with more firefighters joining the fight over the last few hours.

A community meeting will be held in the Portland Memorial Hall, Cecilia Street, St Helens at 6.00pm today to inform residents of the situation.

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