PWS RANGER BLOCKING CHIMNEYS

Tasmania specific bushwalking discussion.
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PWS RANGER BLOCKING CHIMNEYS

Postby BLOODNUT87 » Mon 24 Jan, 2022 4:45 pm

At a recent meeting held by a group of dedicated people a member stood up and said I'm hearing pws Rangers are blocking chimneys around woj and central areas and the huts we have,,if anyone has any info please share...I'm betting it's so people don't use the fireplaces and cause fires etc it's strange but I'm not talking smack....keep your eyes and ears out plz the person who reported it to the member of our group said he had already unblocked ironstone hut and somewhere else....also new caretakers for whitleys hut also....thanks everyone
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Re: PWS RANGER BLOCKING CHIMNEYS

Postby headwerkn » Thu 27 Jan, 2022 10:08 am

Given that collecting firewood in these areas is already illegal, bush fire sensitivity in WoJ is a massive, massive concern and open chimneys are usually the first thing to fall apart in any mountain hut... I suppose the real question is, why would anyone still expect to be able to use them in the year 2022?
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Re: PWS RANGER BLOCKING CHIMNEYS

Postby danman » Thu 27 Jan, 2022 5:38 pm

BLOODNUT87 wrote:At a recent meeting held by a group of dedicated people a member stood up and said I'm hearing pws Rangers are blocking chimneys around woj and central areas and the huts we have,,if anyone has any info please share...I'm betting it's so people don't use the fireplaces and cause fires etc it's strange but I'm not talking smack....keep your eyes and ears out plz the person who reported it to the member of our group said he had already unblocked ironstone hut and somewhere else....also new caretakers for whitleys hut also....thanks everyone


or we could not spread unsubstantiated rumours...
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Re: PWS RANGER BLOCKING CHIMNEYS

Postby matagi » Fri 28 Jan, 2022 10:27 am

I’m not sure I understand the outrage at blocking of chimneys. As headwerkn said - why would anyone expect to be using them in 2022?
This makes me the first man to climb Mount Everest backwards, without oxygen...or even a jumper.
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Re: PWS RANGER BLOCKING CHIMNEYS

Postby Mechanic-AL » Fri 28 Jan, 2022 11:57 am

I was suprised to read lots of comments in the Junction Lake Hut logbook recently from people complaining about how smoky the chimney was........especially seeing there was a "Fuel Stove Only" notice inside the hut.

The only reason I could see for keeping hut chimneys open would be for emergency situations but even then I think you could be hard pressed in some situation to find enough wood dry enough to burn without resorting to burning bits and pieces of the huts themselves.
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Re: PWS RANGER BLOCKING CHIMNEYS

Postby grunter » Fri 28 Jan, 2022 12:38 pm

At Lake Vera late last year and on both nights, walkers tried to get the fire going but failed. So smokey inside the hut. It was a hot 8°c inside the hut already so I was happy it didn't stay burning.
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Re: PWS RANGER BLOCKING CHIMNEYS

Postby FLICKIT » Fri 28 Jan, 2022 1:38 pm

The signs in huts should probably be updated to suit the current rules, and to be 100% clear for the people that are keen to find an excuse to not play by the rules.. I'm always shocked when I walk into an old timber hut and find people have been lighting fires in them, more often than not the fireplaces are in no way safe to contain a fire... Some people seem to think if there's a fireplace they HAVE to light a fire, it's like a compulsion, even if it's the middle of summer, the middle of the day, high temps and high fire danger, they have zero understanding of the risks...

One example is Twilight Tarn hut, the sign on the door covers everything but doesn't specifically say not to tear the ply panel off the fireplace and light the open fire, as people have been doing, people see a fireplace and think the rules don't apply:
TwilightTarnFire.jpg


Lake Ball hut is fairly clear with a sign in the fireplace:
LkBallFire.jpg


Raglan Hut has an old sign:
Raglan Fire.jpg


My understanding is there shouldn't be any fires in the WHA, it's all fuel-stove only, but I can understand fires being lit in sub-zero weather in the highland huts that have been renovated and have a decent fireplace, like Ironstone hut with it's stone fireplace containing a nice freestanding woodheater, it's one of the few that "seems" relatively safe to be used in appropriate weather:
Ironstone Fire.jpg


Some tinder dry historic wooden huts that are surrounded by leaf litter and dry ferns need very blunt signs in my opinion, "NO FIRES UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES", it's not appropriate to light a fire in them at any time.. Ewe's Inn is a good example of this, I didn't notice any signs there:
EwesInn.jpg
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