There are still 24 fires across the state, with unpredictable fire behaviour forcing firefighters and police to evacuate two towns, Reynolds Neck and Brandum, in the Central Plateau overnight. 

Tasmania Fire Service deputy chief officer Bruce Byatt said there was a lot of activity overnight, including a new start at the Riveaux Road fire. 

“Our crews are still working on that, however, we are still confident we will get that under control,” he said. 

Bureau of Meteorology acting state manager Simon McCulloch said cooler conditions and rain were predicted in the coming days

“We are expecting to see some rain statewide on Thursday morning, but the uncertainty is a low pressure system inside that trough, exactly where that goes will have a significant impact on where the heaviest falls will be,” he said. 

At this stage, up to 30 millimetres of rain is expected across the North and North-East on Thursday and up to 25 mms across the rest of the state. Although Mr Byatt was happy to hear rain forecasted, he said it would not be enough to put out the fires at Great Pine Tier, Riveaux Road and Gell River.

“We’re asking people to still maintain their vigilance in and around these fires because we’re finding their still unpredictable,” he said.

“We will still have a considerable amount of work even if we do get rain, whilst it will help, it won’t completely extinguish it.”

TFS has more than 700 people working on the fires statewide and more than 195,000 hectares have burnt. 

Keep up to date with alerts by visiting TFS’ website.