Coverage of Australian bush fires

One feared dead as thousands flee Tasmanian bushfires

• PICTURES: TASMANIA'S BUSHFIRE DISASTER
• Your weather radar: Check your state
• Nation to bake as heatwave grinds on

News.com.au,

5 January, 2013,19.30 NZT

PARTS of Tasmania's east coast have been cut off by bushfires as a blaze on the Tasman Peninsula continues to burn out of control.

The Tasmania Fire Service has upgraded a bushfire at Forcett southeast of Hobart to emergency warning level with a ''high'' danger rating.

It says a large, uncontrolled bushfire is burning between Forcett and the Tasman Peninsula.

The fire is one of two for which emergency warnings have been issued, with fire at Bicheno still out of control.

Authorities earlier issued watch and act warnings for fires at Nubeena and Lake Repulse.

The community of Taranna is affected by the latest upgrade and residents are being told it is too late to leave and they should go to a nearby safer place.

The fire has spread south of Murdunna, has spotted as far as Taranna and has active fire edges back to Forcett and Dodges Ferry.

Thousands flee areas of Tasmania as fires spread

Smoke, embers and ash could fall on the entire Tasman Peninsula.

The Arthur Highway from Old Forcett Road to Eaglehawk Neck, Fulham Road, Sugarloaf Road and Carlton River Road are all closed.

The east coast holiday town of Coles Bay was isolated this afternoon by a fire the TFS has upgraded to ''very high risk'' emergency warning.

More than a dozen properties have been lost south of Bicheno, and Coles Bay Road, south of Apsley River, and the Tasman Highway, south of Tower Hill, are at risk.

The Tasman Peninsula fire that claimed at least 80 properties and left thousands of people isolated yesterday night was still burning out of control this afternoon.

The main access road, the Arthur Highway, remained closed.

Police and commercial boats were being used to ferry in supplies and ferry out people most in need.

No deaths or serious injuries have yet been confirmed, but Deputy Police Commissioner Scott Tilyard said a team was on the ground at Dunalley to investigate a fire crew's concerns that a man may have been trapped while trying to defend his house.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the federal government was supporting the fire effort.

''We are working with the state government to support people and make sure that they get through,'' Ms Gillard told ABC radio.

''My message is there's only one you.

''Everything else in life at the end of the day, no matter how precious, can be replaced.

''What can't be replaced is a human life.''

Clouds from a nearby bushfire are seen over Mount Wellington during day one of the Hobart International at Domain Tennis Centre on January 4, 2013 in Hobart, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

A truck loaded with water dashes up to a hill top house 200 meters from these trees. A major bush fire swept through Copping and Dunalley in South East Tasmania. Picture: Richard Jupe Source: The Mercury

Insurers declared the bushfire-hit towns a catastrophe and police powers were increased when the Tasman Peninsula was declared a serious-incident site.

The Insurance Industry Council of Australia's declaration included the towns of Dunalley, Connellys Marsh, Forcett, Copping, Murdunna, Boomer Bay, Primrose Sands, Susans Bay, Eaglehawk Neck and Taranna.

Electricity company Aurora told people whose power had been cut off to expect delays of several weeks before it was restored.

About 300 poles were down on the Tasman Peninsula.

Property losses from the peninsula fire have been huge, with 30 per cent of the buildings in the small community of Dunalley, 55km southeast of Hobart, destroyed.

These included the school, police station and bakery.

At Connellys Marsh, 40 per cent of the buildings are gone, including three houses at Copping and several at Primrose Sands.

Twenty houses have been lost around Murdunna.

Several thousand people, many of them tourists, are stranded with access roads closed.

Around 700 are taking refuge at the Port Arthur historic site, another 2000 at a community centre at Nubeena and more than 50 at the Dunalley pub.

Up to 1000 people were reported to have been rescued from beaches by boat overnight, but police could not confirm the number.

They said boats had ferried in 3000 meals as well as fuel, water and medical assistance.

A major bushfire swept through Dunalley in Tasmania. Picture: Richard Jupe

'

'Where we possibly could, we were moving people out by vessel overnight,'' Acting Commissioner Scott Tilyard told reporters today.

''The vast majority of people still remain down there.''

The view of the Tasman Peninsular as the fire jumped the Dunalley Canal. A major bush fire swept through Copping and Dunalley in South East Tasmania. Picture: Richard Jupe Source: The Mercury

No deaths or serious injuries have been confirmed

.

A fire in the Derwent Valley northwest of Hobart was affecting the communities of Ellendale and Karanja, but the extent of property damage was unknown.

Conditions across southern Tasmania today were cooler than yesterday, when Hobart reached 41.8C - its hottest since record keeping began in 1883.

State fire chief Mike Brown said similar conditions in 1967 had resulted in the loss of 2000 homes and 62 lives.

Fire-fighters at the fire near the Glen Esk Rd, Conara Picture: Chris Kidd

'

'I would imagine there'll be numerous stories about the heroic and risky approaches that were taken out there,'' he said.

''The big outcome for us ... is that at the moment there looks to be no loss of life or injuries.''

He said this was because of the way ''we put out our warnings, and clearly a lot of people did heed those warnings''.

People concerned about relatives and friends can call a police hotline on 1800 567 567.

Firefighters near Strathalbyn-Goolwa Rd, South Australia. Picture: Dylan Coker Source: The Advertiser

SA prepares for continued threat

A number of total fire bans have been implemented across South Australia.

The bans will be in place tomorrow in the Northwest Pastoral, Northeast Pastoral, West Coast, Flinders, Mid North and Yorke Peninsula districts.

Today, 50 fire crews controlled flare-ups from a controlled bushfire on South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula as the threat of more fires across the state eased.

A bushfire at Finniss was brought under control late on Friday night, with firefighters remaining in the area to control flare-ups.

Adelaide sweltered through its fourth-hottest day on record yesterday, while temperatures soared past 48C in some parts of the state.

Firefighters near Strathalbyn-Goolwa Rd, South Australia. Picture: Dylan Coker Source: The Advertiser

CFS state co-ordinator Malim Watts said people needed to remain vigilant.

Total fire bans have been issued in three districts today, with severe fire conditions forecast in the Northeast Pastoral, Northwest Pastoral and Flinders districts.

Smoke plume from a bushfire burning at Forcett in Tasmania. Photo: Twitter, @foodsideoflife

Firefighters near Strathalbyn-Goolwa Rd, South Australia. Picture: Dylan Coker Source: The Advertiser

The Bureau of Meteorology said temperatures in Adelaide would drop to the low 30s on Saturday but forecast a return to very hot conditions for most of next week.

Victorian fire latest

Victorian firefighters are making the most of cooler conditions as they battle to bring two out-of-control bushfires within containment lines.

A total of 38 trucks and several aircraft were at the scene of a major bushfire at Kentbruck, in the state's southwest today.

The blaze northeast of Portland, between Port Fairy and the small town of Nelson next to the South Australian border, ignited about 18km southeast of the Mt Richmond National Park along the Princes Hwy yesterday afternoon.

It burned more than 2000 hectares.

A bushfire rages out of control near Copping, in southern Tasmania, as 

temperatures in the state top 40C. Picture: Killick David

No property is under threat, but smoke from the fire is visible several hundred kilometres away.

Firefighters near Strathalbyn-Goolwa Rd, South Australia. Picture: Dylan Coker Source: The Advertiser

State Control Centre spokeswoman Sonia Maclean said no homes or property were threatened by the fire, and aircraft account of the scene overnight had revealed the blaze was tearing through the pine forest and had swelled further than the 1200ha circumference initially reported.

A precautionary advice message was issued to Portland residents and nearby communities earlier this morning.

"Coming into the daylight, aerial crews have been able to establish a better indication of the fire and it appears it is across 2000ha, but it has also spread quite quickly," she said.

"The issue in fighting this tricky fire is that the ground is wet and quite boggy so firefighters are using an air-focused attack

.

Smoke sightings of the inferno have been reported from as far away as Hamilton, about 85km northeast of the blaze.

Smoke from a fire at Forcett, Tasmania. Photo: Twitter, @SussanSays

CFA spokesman Chris Clugston said campgrounds Lake Monibeong and Swan Lake were evacuated and the Cobboboonee National Park was closed.

Meanwhile, residents of Ensay, in East Gippsland, were told to remain vigilant as a blaze burned out of control around 7km north of the town.

A CFA spokeswoman said crews hoped to have both fires under control this afternoon.

''The crews on the ground are putting measures in place to create containment lines and are doing some backburning,'' she told AAP.

No new bushfires were recorded today.

Temperatures today were much cooler than Friday, when the mercury peaked above 40C across much of the state.

Work was also under way to restore Victoria's Country Fire Authority website to full capacity.

A worker tries to keep flames away from infrastructure at Repulse Dam. PIC: Sam Rosewarne

The crash occurred as the state sweltered through its hottest day in several years. At some points up to 700 people a second tried to access the website and FireReady App.

In a statement late on Friday, Victoria's fire services commissioner Craig Lapsley said he had asked CFA chief Mick Bourke to investigate why some people were still experiencing delays on the website.

Mr Lapsley said the CFA would work throughout the weekend to respond to the issue as a "key priority".

"We recognise it has been frustrating for people who rely on the website and app for fire information," he said.

"Seeking out the appropriate information is exactly what we have been asking the community to do and we know people are relying on this technology to keep themselves updated about their fire risk."

The capacity of the website and the FireReady App were increased after the crash.

Mr Lapsley says important fire information is also available from ABC radio, SKY NEWS, and CFA social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter as well as the Victorian Bushfire Information Line on 1800 240 667