Police have commenced an investigation into the fire at George Town, which came within 10 metres of homes on Tuesday afternoon.
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The deliberately-lit blaze was reported about 2pm in Blue Gum Park, which is home to the town’s sporting and recreation ground.
Police believe the fire was started in a small area of scrub between the dog park and the archery field, to the north of George Street.
Some kind of organic matter – most likely cardboard – was used as an ignition point, fire scene examiners believe.
Police would like to speak with anyone who may know the identity of a man on an unregistered trail bike seen in the area of Quinn Avenue and Margeurite Street just before 2pm on Tuesday.
They would also like to speak with a group of four boys who were seen riding their BMX bikes in the park about 1pm on the same day.
George Town fire brigade chief Andrew Taylor said he has two crews of six firefighters on the ground mopping up.
“We have a few hot spots, nothing of any significance at this stage but we are expecting temperatures to pick up after lunch and wind speeds are expected to reach another 40km/h,” he said.
“We don’t believe that those hot spots are going to cause us imminent danger but if we don’t treat them now properly then that will cause us (problems) later in the week when we get extremely hot weather.”
Holly Monery
Holly Monery is a journalist for The Examiner newspaper, based in Launceston, Tasmania. Her main area of focus is local government.
Holly Monery is a journalist for The Examiner newspaper, based in Launceston, Tasmania. Her main area of focus is local government.
