Firefighters on Tasmania’s west coast are preparing for strong winds as they continue battling out-of-control blazes that have burned for over a week. Aerial surveys confirm the destruction of a private hut on the Overland Track, with more than 50,000 hectares of wilderness lost. The ongoing emergency is heightening concerns for nearby residents and businesses.
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00:00Commercial beekeeper Lindsay Burke knows how to stay safe around his hives, but yesterday
00:08his team faced a different kind of risk on Tasmania's west coast.
00:13Four of our crew members had to evacuate, they had to drop tools, jump in their trucks
00:19and get out as quickly as possible.
00:21They had to leave behind 130 hives and still don't know if they were destroyed in the fire.
00:28Now another 60 hives are threatened.
00:30It's over $100,000 worth at risk, so it's a very big worry for us.
00:37Aerial bombers and firefighters are continuing to battle almost 20 blazes across the state,
00:43most of them on the west coast, where maximum temperatures got above 30 degrees on Wednesday.
00:49The conditions over the next 24-48 hours are going to be very challenging for our fire
00:54crews.
00:55The Cape, Pyman Heads and Conical Rocks have been subject to an emergency warning, while
01:00Carina has been at watch and act level.
01:03A severe weather warning for damaging wind gusts of up to 90 kilometres an hour, adding
01:09to the dangers.
01:11These winds will not only impact on the firegrounds, but the aerial assets, their ability to fly.
01:18The fires have now been burning for more than a week, the scale so large that plumes of
01:23smoke can be seen from space, with locals at grounds level keen for the fires to be
01:28over.
01:29Nervous like everybody is.
01:30I was here in 81 when the fires went through, so yeah, we're a bit nervous.
01:39Reasonably cautious, but I'm not overly nervous, we've been this way now for seven days.
01:44A cold front is expected to reach the state on Thursday night, with the potential for
01:4910-20 millimetres of rain.
01:52So it remains to be seen whether that will be widespread enough to really help with the
01:55fires out there.
01:56Authorities expect the fires to last for at least the next week or two.
02:01And in the coming days, this site here at Tulla will be transformed into a base camp
02:05for dozens of firefighters from across Tasmania and interstate.