Firefighters working in Tasmania's south-west wilderness are hitting a bushfire "hard" ahead of hot conditions expected later in the week.
Remote-area firefighters from the Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) have been working to control the fire, burning at Bonnet Bay on the shores of Lake Pedder, since it was reported on January 6.
PWS fire crew supervisor John Duggan said he was happy with the progress so far.
"We've got no running fire," Mr Duggan said.
"Now we're just in the mop-up stage."
In December 2018, dry lightning started a fire at Gell River, which burnt for weeks in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, razing at least 187,000 hectares.
Since then, more resources have been put into remote area firefighting.
Mr Duggan said the biggest changes for PWS remote-area firefighters were more aircraft being available for firefighting and the ability to winch crews from a helicopter into otherwise inaccessible areas — previously a landing spot would need to be found and crews would have to walk from there.
Mr Duggan said the Bonnet Bay fire, although reported on Friday, was most likely a "sleeper" from lightning storms a few days earlier that flared up in warmer weather.
"On Friday we deployed six aircraft … they worked on it late on Friday evening to help contain the fire until we were able to get firefighters on to the ground on Saturday morning," he said.
He said an infrared scan of the fireground at first light on Monday provided information about any remaining hot spots.
Those hotspots were the focus of efforts by 24 PWS firefighters, with support from six aircraft, on Monday.
"What we're doing over the next few days, we're hitting it hard with resources with the aircraft and staff on the ground — it's very steep and inaccessible," Mr Duggan said.
"We can't walk all the fire ground because it's just too steep so we've got aircraft working on the edges that we can't walk to.
"We're hitting it hard where we can before the hot weather comes later in the week … we're looking at 30 degrees out here in the west for Saturday. We're confident at this stage that things are on track."
Acting Premier Michael Ferguson said a "heavy, early wave attack" was the approach that had been adopted to fight fires "that have the potential to spread".
While the Bonnet Bay fire is not threatening any property or people, the 2018 Gell River fire showed the devastation bushfires can have on wilderness.
AFAC, the national council for fire and emergency services, has predicted higher than normal fire potential in parts of Tasmania's west and south-west, which are experiencing drier than normal conditions.
"Above normal fire potential is anticipated in western Tasmania as the flammability of peat soils, moorlands, scrubs and heaths is predicted to be greater than normal. Lightning strikes in these areas may ignite fires which may be difficult to control," its outlook for the current summer reads.
Mr Duggan said he had noticed drier than normal conditions.
"It's definitely dry for this time of year for the south-west, and particularly here on this fireground, and that's why the fire's still burning, I guess, after so many days."
The Sentinels walking track in the South West National Park remains closed. The Strathgordon Village boat ramp is also closed.
"You can still access Strathgordon and Lake Pedder, but we ask people to stay away from our operations, where the aircraft are scooping up water from the lake," Mr Duggan said.
The Serpentine Dam and McPartlan Pass boat ramps remain open, along with Teds Beach.
Opposition questions overall firefighting capacity
While the PWS is working on the Bonnet Bay fire, questions have been raised about resourcing of the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS).
Right to Information documents show there were 28 vacancies within the TFS in November. Nine of those positions had been vacant for 36 days or more — one for 195 days.
"The vacant positions range across a number of areas, they're across the state but they're also in positions that are about fire safety, so either community engagement, but also in management positions that are key to ensuring that we are deploying the right resources at the right time," Opposition Emergency Management Spokeswoman Michelle O'Byrne said.
"We have a minister that is presiding over an underfunded service, without enough staff."
United Firefighters Union industrial organiser Stephen McCallum said the 28 positions were "the tip of the iceberg".
"That [figure] does not include people on long-term leave, it doesn't include people on workers' comp. We know that realistically it's at least double that number right now."
Mr McCallum said firefighters were working "more and more overtime" as a result.
Mr Ferguson said with record low unemployment, it was a "difficult time to recruit anybody for any role … across the public service and in the private sector there are vacancies everywhere".
"We've got more positions in fire and emergency services than ever before," he said.
"That's why I think it's very strangely hypocritical of Labor to be politicking around fire services on this issue."
Mr Ferguson said he was not aware of any vacancy control measures in place, and the government was working to attract people into a career in firefighting.
