The assistant secretary of the Australian Workers Union Robert Flanagan said the government needed to take a proactive approach to minimising wild fires.

"It would cost about $500,000 a year to have a permanent team compared with $100 million which the fires cost this year and $50 million for the North-West fires in 2016," Mr Flanagan said.

"We need a comprehensive fuel reduction strategy.

"We have 18 specialist bush firefighters now who only work eight months of the year and there are five vacant positions.

"If we are to protect our iconic World Heritage Area we need a permanent crew to protect from the ongoing and increasing threat of wildfire."

Mr Flanagan said the designated Parks and Wildlife Service fire crews at depots a Prospect, Ulverstone, Scottsdale and Hobart were not just firefighters but also were involved in a range of land management practices throughout the year, including track maintenance.

Greens Senator Nick McKim supported the union's call for a permanent, specialist firefighting crew.

"There is no argument that the way to respond to such fires is to hit them hard and hit them early," Senator McKim said.

"It is unacceptable that are firefighters are not adequately resourced and are being placed at high risk."

In its 30-page submission to the government's inquiry on the 2018-19 bushfires, the AWU is critical of the Incident Management Teams response to the fires which destroyed 200,000 hectares.

"The management of wild fires was found wanting," the AWU said.

"The IMT was unresponsive to the requirements of crews on the ground.

"Communications were found wanting."

Mr Flanagan said in the union's view all three fires at Gell River, Central Plateau and Riveaux Road "were containable when they first began".

He said the Central Plateau fire started in inaccessible country, but no aircraft made an immediate assessment and it eventually got away.

"There were a number of opportunities to carry out backburns, but to do so, permission had to be granted, and in many cases it was too late coming," the submission said.

"By this time, the TFS had established an Incident Management Team, and it was within this chain of command that such permissions were granted. On three separate occasions, the fire had broken through intended backburn sites by the time approval was given.

"The IMT seemed to lack knowledge of local conditions, and were not prepared to accept the advice of the fire crews on the ground.

"Helicopters were not allowed to fly in the early morning. Choppers were not in the air until after 9am, when in fact they were needed at first light.

"In one situation, the chopper pilot was not able to communicate with the ground crew, as he had not been advised of the appropriate protocols, channels etc.

"The end result was that the decision had to be made to withdraw ground crews from the fire flanks as a safety measure and to let the fire go."