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UPDATE 3pm:
Chudleigh Lakes may be at high risk after the area was upgraded to watch and act by Tasmania Fire Service just before 3pm. A watch and act alert remains for Western Creek.
The area was at high risk on Tuesday before being downgraded late Tuesday night.
The fire will be difficult to control.
There may be embers, smoke and ash falling on the Chudleigh Lakes area.
EARLIER:
1.30pm
A bushfire at Lake Mackenzie Road, Mersey Forest may put Western Creek at high risk according to Tasmania Fire Service.
The area was at high risk on Tuesday before being downgraded late Tuesday night.
The fire will be difficult to control.
There may be embers, smoke and ash falling on Western Creek.
Tuesday 10.10pm
The fire alert for Mersey Forest Road, Meander, Mole Creek, Chudleigh has been downgraded and is no longer an immediate threat.
The bushfire continues to cause smoke and ash to fall over Jackeys Marsh, Liffey, Golden Valley and Bracknell.
Fire under these conditions can be difficult to control.
3.30pm:
There is a bushfire at Mersey Forest Road, Meander, Mole Creek, Chudleigh.
The fire will put Mersey Forest Road, Meander, Mole Creek, Chudleigh at high risk Now.
This fire will be difficult to control.
Burning embers, falling on Mersey Forest Road, Meander, Mole Creek, Chudleigh will threaten your home before the main fire.
Smoke and ash will make it difficult to see and breathe.
2.30pm: There is a bushfire at Lake Mackenzie Road, Mersey Forest.
This fire may put Mersey Forest Rd, Olivier Rd, Western Creek, Dairy Plains and Caveside at risk of ember attackin the next 2 hours.
This fire will be difficult to control.
There may be embers, smoke and ash falling on Mersey Forest Rd, Olivier Road, Western Creek, Dairy Plains and Caveside.
EARLIER: Police have advised motorists that due to the West Coast fires smoke is blanketing the north of the state. Visibility to motorists is poor due to these circumstances.
ROAD CLOSURES:
On the advice of the Tasmania Fire Service the following roads have been closed on the West Coast.
Norfolk Road between Rebecca Road and Corrina Road.
Sumac Road – Rapid River Road – Tayatea Road (known as ‘Tarkine Drive‘ ) between Kannunah Bridge and Tayatea Bridge.
Sandy Cape Track – between Temma and Norfolk Road.
Sandy Cape Track – between Temma and south to Sandy Cape
EARLIER: A TOTAL fire ban has been declared for the North and North-West as the Tasmania Fire Service attempts to control 80 vegetation fires burning around the state.
Chief Officer Gavin Freeman said the North and parts of the North-West would be subject to very high fire danger, and said any further fires would stretch the service's resources too much.
He said the fire risk was not as high on the West Coast, but demands on resources meant it was necessary to impose a total fire ban across the entire North-West Coast.
Chief Officer Freeman said bushwalkers should consider the risks before making trips to the West Coast due to a vegetation fire at Zeehan.
"Make sure it's well assessed and you know where you're going, and really if you don't need to be there, don't be there at all," he said.
He said there were a number of fires dotted around the state, with a fire at Musselroe Bay in the North-East generating a large amount of smoke.
Chief Officer Freeman said firefighters from the TFS, the Parks and Wildlife service and Forestry Tasmania were being moved "rapidly" around the state to combat the fires.
He said a lightning strike last week had helped to create the unusually high number of active fires.
"The last time we had this many fires was 2013, when we had about 50 fires burning throughout the state at the one time," Chief Officer Freeman said.
Chief Officer Freeman said smoke would continue to linger over parts of the state on Tuesday.
He said people with respiratory problems should heed advice from the Department of Health and Human Services and stay indoors wherever possible.
The Parks and Wildlife Service has closed the Sandy Cape Track, the Western Explorer Road and the Tarkine Wilderness Track on the West Coast, a number of walks in the Cradle Mountain area, and campgrounds and tracks near Mount Wedge in the South-West.
The Overland Track remains open but bushwalkers are asked not to stray far from marked tracks.
Chief Officer Freeman said it was important for people to be vigilant of fire risk, and monitor www.fire.tas.gov.au for updates.