The extreme heatwave has affected parts of South Australia, Victoria and NSW, while bushfires have damaged up to 65 buildings in Dunalley, a town 56km southeast of Hobart.
Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) Chief Officer Mike Brown says conditions have reached the catastrophic level developed after the Black Saturday fires in Victoria, reports News.com.au.
There are unconfirmed rumours that there may have been a fire-related death in the area too.
Image via Nanwoo on Instagram
Three emergency warnings are in place for fires at Forcett, the Repulse Dam and Aplsey River, near the Tasman Highway.
Hobart experienced its hottest day on record on Friday when the mercury hit 41.8C
Image via Getty
That is the worse thing I’ve seen all day. Stay safe #tassie. Please. RT @bob_dambergs Half of Tasmania is on fire twitter.com/bob_dambergs/s…
— Regan Drew (@ReganDrew) January 4, 2013
Pics of Forcett fire at about 4pm from the air at Hobart Airport / @tasfireservice #hobart #Tasmania twitter.com/chuqtas/status…
— Charles Gregory (@chuqtas) January 4, 2013
