Interstate and New Zealand firefighters are starting to head home, and there's no dangerous fire weather expected for up to a week, but 70 bushfires still burn across Tasmania.
Tasmania Fire Service chief officer Gavin Freeman says he's confident those 70 fires - 46 of those still listed as uncontrolled - will be reduced to "patrol mode" - with small crews checking for hot spots - within two weeks.
"What that means is that we're starting to open up a lot of the areas that have been closed, so that allows people to go back in ... and support those communities that have been cut off for a little while," Mr Freeman told reporters on Wednesday.
"There are quite a lot of the tourist areas that are back open, and we encourage people to go back."
Although the summer fire risk is not diminished, there is no significant bushfire weather expected in the next five to seven days, Mr Freeman said.
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Mr Freeman said the Very Large Air Tanker would return to Victoria on Wednesday night.
Ten interstate fire tanker crews will return on Thursday, with the rest to follow within days.
Several fires including Arthur River and Mawbanna Pipeline are still causing some concern, but are not expected to move significantly in the next few days.
Premier Will Hodgman, who visited the TFS emergency headquarters at Three Mile Line, near Burnie, on Wednesday, thanked firefighters, emergency workers and staff from a range of state government agencies for their tireless work on the fire.
"There are 70 active fires, with 46 classed as going. There are currently no emergency warnings or watch and act alerts," he said.
"And remarkably the only significant infrastructure affected by the fires was the Nelson Bay Bridge."
An Australian Conservation Foundation spokesman said the damage in the World Heritage Area "may be considered to be a major climate-related loss of Australia's iconic natural heritage, on par with coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef".
TASMANIAN FIRES BY THE NUMBERS
- 70 active bushfires remain
- 46 are still not contained or under control
- one fire controlled
- 10 fires contained
- 14 in patrol mode
- no watch and act or emergency warnings
- four advice messages - (Lake Mackensie, Lorinna, South West and Balfour)
- 104,000 hectares burnt, including up to 2 per cent of the World Heritage Area
- 32 firefighting helicopters and five fixed-wing aircraft in service
Non-Tasmanian firefighters include:
NSW/ACT - 109
NZ - 44
VIC - 32
QLD - 18
SA - 2
(Source: Tasmania Fire Service)
