Fifty-five years after Tasmania's worst natural disaster, a crucial line of defence has been bolstered to protect the greater Hobart area from another firestorm — with authorities conceding even that might not be enough in extreme conditions.
In 1967, dozens of fires around south-east Tasmania developed into a massive blaze and within hours 64 people were dead, 900 injured, 7,000 homeless and tens of thousands of hectares burnt.
Now, a key firefighting trail on kunanyi/Mt Wellington has undergone a $250,000 upgrade in a bid to boost the greater Hobart area's fire preparedness.
The Hobart and Glenorchy Councils have upgraded four kilometres of the Big Bend fire trail, crucial to quickly accessing fires that start around the back of the mountain.
Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said the trail was a "really important strategic link in our firefighting arsenal."
"It really means for firefighting vehicles getting to the back of the mountain where a lot of fires can start, particularly through dry lightning strikes, it makes it easier to get to those fires earlier before they become really damaging firestorms," she said.
The council's fire and biodiversity team leader Melanie Gent said the trail was earmarked for upgrades after crews fighting the 2019 Tom Thumb fire found it was substandard.
"This trail back in the day before it got upgraded was quite rocky, we're in very rugged terrain here on top of Mt Wellington and it's a very slow drive to get emergency services vehicles out to where we needed to go so this upgrade was really important," Ms Gent said.
It's now smoother, wider and easier for vehicles to travel along it at speed.
"This Big Bend trail links into the East West Trail, which means there's access to the Huon Valley, the Derwent Valley and into Glenorchy," Ms Gent said.
Upgraded trails 'not enough' on high danger days
Councillor Reynolds said that even a well-maintained trail network wasn't enough to prevent a catastrophic bushfire, in the right conditions.
"The city of Hobart is one of the most bushfire prone cities in the world, so we have to be on top of this all of the time," she said.
"We're doing what we can for those higher fire danger days and trying to make it easier to deal with fires when they're small, but on those really catastrophic extreme fire weather danger days, it is very, very challenging."
Complacency was found to play a key role in the 1967 Black Tuesday bushfires and Glenorchy Alderman Simon Fraser is urging people to be prepared.
"We're asking people to look at their bushfire survival plans and to make sure they've read, and they know exactly what they're going to do in the case of an emergency."
Tasmania Fire Service's regional chief Jeremy Smith said the state is "extremely well prepared" for events like Black Tuesday.
"Obviously it was a catastrophic fire day but certainly lessons have been learnt from that fire and a number of others that have occurred across Tasmania and the mainland," he said.
Mr Smith said there now was a "greater understanding of what needs to be done".
He said a series of things were different now than they were 55 years ago, when there was no fire permit system, fire bans, communications or structured brigades.
Information about fire safety and preparation can be found on the Tasmania Fire Service website.
The ABC is Australia's emergency broadcaster and provides bushfire updates across its services.
