A series of controlled burns will get underway across Tasmania's north during the Autumn months to prepare the state for a return to El Nino conditions.
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These include burns at Riverside, George Town, Exeter and Bridport.
The multi-agency program brings together Tasmania Fire Service (TFS), the Parks and Wildlife Service and Sustainable Timber Tasmania each autumn to reduce fuel loads while conditions allow.
Tasmania Fire Service Chief Officer Dermot Barry said the program was particularly important this year as long-range forecasts predicted hotter, drier weather in the summer.
"Over the past three years, we have been fortunate to have had mild Tasmanian fire seasons, largely thanks to the wet conditions of La Nina, but now that La Nina has ended, we expect this to change," Chief Officer Barry said.
"The Bureau of Meteorology has advised that an El Nino is likely, which will bring drier conditions, more frequent extreme fire weather and bushfires, which is why it is so important we take every opportunity to conduct fuel reduction burns this autumn."
The Chief Officer also said that smoke impacts from the burns were unavoidable, but the level was far less than during an uncontrolled burn, partly due to the fuel being at its driest.
The Fuel Reduction Program was established in 2014 and to date has conducted more than 1250 burns to date on both public and private land.
Parks and Wildlife Service State Fire Manager Katy Edwards said there were 25 burns scheduled on reserves this year, and the benefits went beyond bushfire mitigation.
"Our fuel reduction burns aim to minimise the intensity of bushfires and help protect communities, as well as conserve natural environments dependent on fire for regeneration or protect areas vulnerable to the impacts of bushfires," she said.
TFS advises that the exact time and duration of burns depends on weather conditions, as officers seek to reduce smoke impacts on the community.
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