FIFTY tankers, 245 interstate firefighters and a base camp will be flown in to assist Tasmania’s firefighting effort.
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Tasmania Fire Service Chief Officer Gavin Freeman said the assistance was the ‘‘biggest mobilisation of interstate resources ever seen’’, and had been brought in as a precaution in case a bushfire at Mawbanna, near Rocky Cape, breached containment lines.
Chief Officer Gavin Freeman said large air tankers and remote firefighters had targeted a weak spot on the north-east boundary of the Pipeline Road fire, but crews could not guarantee gusty winds wouldn’t cause the front to move.
Wind gusts are predicted to reach 50km/h on Monday, with Mr Freeman saying the forecasted gusts would be problematic.
’It’s a mammoth effort to try and ensure that we can contain these fires where we are,’’ he said.
Nearby communities could be threatened if the fire, located 20km from the nearest settled area as of Sunday, did break containment lines.
Mr Freeman said the crew, from South Australia, Victoria and NSW, would be used as relief for Tasmanian firefighters if the fire did not worsen.
A base camp, set to be based in Stanley, will be flown in from Victoria by the Australian Defence Force and is set to be operational by Wednesday.
The containerised camp houses 300 fire crew and was deployed as the TFS could not secure enough accommodation in the area.
Mr Freeman said over 400 interstate fighters were currently assisting with the firefighting effort, and estimated more than 600 crew had been in the state during the 34-day campaign.
Currently 27 Tasmanian fires are listed as uncontained, with a further 49 under patrol.
Mr Freeman said bushfires at Mawbanna and Maxwell River South, in the state’s South-West, were of most concern.
He said favourable weather conditions over the past two weeks had helped the TFS to make ‘‘significant progress’’ in reducing the number of fires burning throughout the state.
Mr Freeman said the Maxwell River South fire was burning in button grass plain in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, was yet to threaten protected species in the area.
He said crews were putting significant effort into the fire to minimise the impact in the TWWHA.
Smoke blanketed the state’s North on Saturday and Sunday, and Mr Freeman said it was likely to linger.
Mr Freeman said at least 50 mls of rain was required for crews to be able to put out fires burning throughout the state.
Current projections are for the fires to burn for a month.
