One of Tasmania’s most popular bushwalking tracks has been evacuated as fire crews battle to contain an uncontrolled bushfire in the states north-west. Tasmania's fire service expects the iconic overland track to be closed for three days but insists the 150-or-so walkers currently on the track are all accounted for.
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TVTranscript
00:00Staying next to me is Nick Hines, an ABC reporter.
00:05We've just grabbed him off the bus.
00:07He's been on the track for one day.
00:09Nick, how has your experience been?
00:11I mean, it's still spectacular and jaw-dropping out there, but certainly not what we were
00:16hoping for when you plan this five-day trip and fly down from Melbourne especially.
00:21We saw smoke yesterday in the distance as we were hiking out to Waterfall Valley, the
00:25first location, and last night we were assured that things were under control and it was
00:29OK.
00:30The fire was being monitored.
00:31There was a bit of smoke in the air and some ash falling on us, just drifting through the
00:34air.
00:35It didn't feel too dangerous yesterday.
00:37This morning we woke up to clear skies and beautiful conditions.
00:40We thought everything was OK, and about 10 a.m. a helicopter landed at the hut just before
00:45we were about to continue south on the hike, and the ranger said, you've got to turn around
00:49and head right back where you started from.
00:51And as we came out and up onto the hills and high country, you could see in the distance
00:56just the plumes of smoke had grown in size, and we saw water-bombing aircraft coming across.
01:01You got a bit of a bigger sense of the size of the fire and the drama of it, but as you
01:07came back into Cradle Mountain just now, it's still amazing how different it is here just
01:10a few kilometres further north.
01:12Beautiful conditions here, so at least we've got that, even if we don't have the rest of
01:15the overland.
01:16What was the mood from other walkers while you were out there?
01:19Mostly just disappointment, I think.
01:21A lot of people hadn't even realised there was the fire because the wind initially was
01:24blowing the smoke in the other direction, and everyone, I think, got it.
01:28I think we encountered one man who was a bit grumpy and maybe talking about trying to find
01:32a way to keep going forward, but I think generally just the disappointment after all that planning
01:36to have to turn around.
01:37What are you going to do now with your holiday?
01:39We're booking a very fancy hotel room, I think, tonight and having a nice hot bath, and then
01:43maybe explore some other part further away from the fires.
01:47Yeah, so as Nick just said, all 154 people that have started the trek since the 1st of
01:53February have been accounted for.
01:56We've also been told that fire crews are continuing to monitor the area, they're flying over the
02:00track constantly, just to make sure that everyone that was on the track is where they're meant
02:05to be and has been communicated with.
02:07The fire is currently 563 hectares in size, so it's roughly five kilometres off from where
02:14the track is, and it's expected to impact potentially the track within the next 24 to
02:2048 hours, so very much a wait and see here.
02:23For more information visit www.fema.gov