Updated
Fifty bushwalkers have been airlifted to safety in Tasmania’s Southwest National Park, after lightning strikes sparked a series of fires across the state.
Key points:
- An emergency warning is current for a fire burning near Lake Fergus and Great Pine Tier
- About 5,500 lightning strikes were recorded across the state between 3:00pm on Tuesday and 9:00am on Wednesday
- There are about 70 fires burning across the state
About 70 fires are burning across the state, many sparked by dry lightning strikes during a series of storms over the past few days.
The bushwalkers were at Mount Anne, in the state’s south-west.
An emergency warning has also remains in place for a “highly active and unpredictable” bushfire burning near Lake Fergus and Great Pine Tier in Tasmania’s Central Plateau.
The Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) said in a statement this afternoon the fire was expected to put Lake Fergus and Great Pine Tier “at risk within two to six hours”, urging people in the immediate area to “leave without delay”.
The region, while not densely populated, is a popular fishing spot and there are a number of communities south and east of where the vegetation fire is burning across 270 hectares.
Ian Bounds from the TFS said recreational fishers on lakes in the area were in the path of the fire.
“We currently have police and parks and wildlife people in the area asking people to leave or make preparations to leave and we ask that people take those instructions and put them into play,” he said.
“The fire has a reasonable front and has potential to spot in front of the main fire.
“The conditions are expected to worsen, with dry air and we believe that the fire will become a lot of more active as the afternoon progresses.”
The TFS advice for people within the area is:
- The safest thing to do is go to a safer location now well before the fire hits;
- If you are going to leave, make sure there is a clear road to a safer place;
- There is no evacuation centre;
- Only strongly defended homes, made to be bushfire proof in very high conditions, can protect your life;
- Do not try to travel to the area as the roads could be highly dangerous;
- Listen to ABC Local Radio or look at www.fire.tas.gov.au for more information.
Four other fires in the state were on Wednesday night at Advice Level, including the Gell River in the Southwest World Heritage Wilderness Area, which has been burning since December.
About 5,500 lightning strikes were recorded across the state between 3:00pm on Tuesday and 9:00am on Wednesday, igniting dozens of fires in southern Tasmania.
‘Dry’ lightning more likely to ignite fires
The only difference between dry and regular lightning is the lack of rain, but that’s what makes it more dangerous, weather bureau acting senior forecaster Luke Johnston said.
“Because there’s no rainfall associated with the lightning, if it does strike the ground in an area that is dry, it could easily start a fire,” he said.
Tasmania’s thunderstorms tend to be low to the ground, but Mr Johnston said last night’s storms were quite high up in the atmosphere.
“It was fairly moist up high where the thunderstorms were, but it was fairly dry with not much moisture in the air below them.
“So rainfall was actually falling out of these thunderstorms, but most of it was evaporating before it reached the ground.”
He said the lack of rainfall can also be credited for last night’s spectacular lightning show.
“Because there wasn’t much in the way of rainfall reaching the ground underneath this storm, you could actually see quite a lot further than you normally would.
“As a consequence of that you’d be able to see more lightning … normally you’d see a rainshaft that’s hiding the lightning behind it.”
Last night’s thunder was also particularly loud for a very good reason.
“Any lightning strikes that reached the surface sounded extra loud last night because they were underneath an inversion,” Mr Johnston said.
He said because the air on the ground was cooler than the layer above, the sound waves bounced off it and there was no rain to dull the sound.
“You had the thunder bouncing around down low to the ground, so it could sound like you might be hearing it a couple of times.”
Topics:
First posted
from Trend Gossip Now http://bit.ly/2RP0rAh
0 Comments