Campers and residents evacuated over bushfire threat in north-east Tasmania

campers and residents evacuated over bushfire threat in north-east tasmania

The fire forced the evacuation of campers in the area. (Supplied: Tasmanian Fire Service)

Campers and residents were evacuated from a popular coastal region of north-east Tasmania because of a bushfire burning through the area.

The fire in the Waterhouse Conservation area — north-east of Bridport and the Barnbougle golf course — was discovered around 4am today.

Strong easterly to north-easterly winds pushed it through coastal scrub and forest.

An emergency evacuation warning was issued for the Waterhouse Conservation Area, Ransons Beach, West Beach and surrounds on Thursday morning.

As of 2.46pm on Thursday, authorities said the bushfire alert level had been downgraded with the “fire expected to be controlled in the coming hours”.

People in the area are urged follow the latest advice posted to the TasAlert website.

Earlier on Thursday, regional fire chief Jeff Harper said winds were expected to strengthen during the day, blowing the fire towards an area popular with campers, alongside shacks and homes.

He said crews spent several hours evacuating campers.

“Even though we’ve sent out an EA [emergency alert], we’re still continuing to find them tucked away in campgrounds everywhere,” he said at the time.

Jess Bell was one of those evacuated early this morning.

“Initially it was probably a little bit of shock being woken up and being told to pack up immediately — that was a little bit scary,” she said.

“At that time the sky was a really orange colour and you could see the dark smoke over the top, so we knew it was close.”

Mr Harper said with Homestead Road the only road in and out of the area, people had been urged to move to Waterhouse Road and Tomahawk.

‘Confident they’ll pull it up’

Mr Harper said 16 fire vehicles and eight aircraft responded to the blaze.

“Our crews are pretty confident they’ll pull it up before Tomahawk,” he said earlier on Thursday.

“It runs into a neck of foreshore reserve which is only about 50 to 100 metres long before it gets to Tomahawk.”

The fire service is looking into possible causes of the fire, including a lightning storm in the area earlier this week.

Mr Harper says lightning strike fires can smoulder for several days before taking off and he’s urged people to report any smoke they see.

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