Was there fire damage at Mt Speculatiuon...

[waggy]

or surrounding areas? Thinking of heading up there over labour day weekend but unsure about its condition.
Thanks.

[jjay]

http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets ... osures.pdf

the entire alpine national park south of the great alpine road is now closed...i was planning on heading in that vicinity too...need to find alternatives!

[wander]

Does anyone have any idea how long this closure is planned for or likely to be?

[Travis22]

Areas which have burned will most likely be closed for up to 12months id say. Also depends on the rains that follow and how much erosion is caused and how many trees drop.

Area's which havent had much fire through them (most of the ANP around Licola, Tamboritha, Moroka, Howitt) should reopen soon id hope.

[madmacca]

Current advice from the DSE website

Advice - All Clear
MT NO 3 -TOMOHAWKE
MT NO. 3 Tomohawke
Effective: 28/02/13 10:47 AM
Expires: 01/03/13 12:00 PM
Incident Information:
Department of Sustainability and Environment advise that the fire activity in the MT NO. 3 Tomohawke area has subsided.

This fire is contained.
This message applies to the town(s) of Mirimbah, Mount Buller, Sawmill Settlement.
Smoke may still be visible from nearby communities and roads.
Carters Road, Buckland Spur Track, Evans Creek Track, No. 3 Road, Westons Track and Plain Creek Track remain closed. The Northern section of the Circuit Road is closed including King Basin Road, Black Landing Road and Speculation Road.

Hopefully with the rain, many of these will be reopened by Labor Day.

[jjay]

Yeah, the all clear has been given all over gippsland. Most likely the dse and cfa are having a well deserved bit of respite before going out and checking what can be reopened and what not.

[wander]

Is it just me or is Parks Vic webpages really complex, so complex I cannot find the definitive data as to what is open or what is closed. Or do I need to go to BOM, figure out the conditions, go to CFA get their info then go to Parks Vic and interpret their info and then make a guess as to what is open and what is closed?

It maybe easier in Vic but being remote from Vic and trying to plan a trip in the Alpine Nat Park in the near future it is looking harder than it should. I'll give up on their webpages and try and telephone and talk to a person.

Update, gotta luv real people to talk to. The Vic Parks phone service was very good and have managed to get me to the correct place in their webpages.

For reference it is at http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/alpine-national-park and in the 1st section is the link to the current version of the map listed way above in this thread.

[madmacca]

Wander,

To be fair, the downgrade in the fire threats has really only happenned in the last 24-48 hours. And the rangers (or their contractors) still need to actually go in there and inspect things, and cut down any fallen trees across roads, etc, before reopening the areas. In my experience, they are normally pretty good in re-opening areas where they can ahead of popular long weekends. I understand your frustration in planning a trip, but timing of the fires and rain has left it all a pretty close run thing this time.

But I agree - while the info on Parkweb is often good, it is not easy to navigate.

[wander]

madmacca, do not get me wrong, Parks can take all the time they need to do what they gotta do. I was just looking for an easy way to know if it was OK to visit the park. Which I now have sorted out.