Coles Bay Oracle

09/07/2026

Toppy is back in Coles Bay for the school holidays.
Not as popular as Count Binface, yet he still has an important message for everyone.

Toppy likes to speed down Hazards View Drive and around The Esplanade in Coles Bay. Consequences? Meh, they're for other people. Not Toppy's problem.

Tasmanian School holidays start this Friday 11th July, so can we all please suppress our "Inner Toppy" for the safety of kids both living in and visiting Coles Bay. And dogs, older people, mobility impacted people, people on bikes, or just people in general.

31/12/2025

A message from a Coles Bay Volunteer Fire Brigade member…

Welcome to everyone sharing Coles Bay (and the East Coast) with us for their New Year’s. Our brigade members want to enjoy ours too. The biggest risk to that? A neglected camp fire, and that parachute flare that you were thinking of putting up as midnight strikes. Parachute flares have started bushfires in past years, e.g. Strahan in 2024 and Dolphin Sands c2018. The windy conditions we’re getting at the moment mean that a flare can travel a long distance, and with the wind being so variable at the moment can also cause down-draughts that can cause a flare to be pushed to ground before the incendiary has gone out.

Your camp fire needs to be put out. Put a bucket of water next to fire, and let the honors go to the last man (or woman) standing. Don’t forget, it’s gotta be wet. Don’t smother your fire with sand or dirt, that is worse than leaving the fire going.
Have a good one folks…and let us have one too. Cheers.

13/12/2025

This is going to be a very bad weekend, make no mistake.

When it comes to serious stuff like this, I don't water it down. Call me scaremongering... This is scary!!!

This bushfire event we're looking at over the next 48 hours unfortunately isn't looking good, particularly for the East Coast, Northeast, and Flinders Island.

There's two parts to it. Today: Saturday.

A weak cold front is expected to cross the state, but it's going to be a dry line; there's not much moisture that will bring rain. If you do get rainfall, you'll be lucky to get 1mm. With a very warm airmass being drawn southward ahead of this cold front, our major concern is high-based thunderstorms this morning and particularly this afternoon as the weak cold front crosses the state.

Apart from the slight risk of Damaging Winds if you get any down busts that's always a possibility Thunderstorms are not expected to be Severe however they are expected to be very lightning active.

Dry lightning across a very dry landscape under increasing North to Northwesterly winds the stage is set for a fire outbreak it's just a matter of where these storms will move and how quickly any fire's can be contained.

Problem number 2 Sunday and this is the hit from behind literally.

A stronger Cold front is expected to cross the state during the day bringing Likely widespread damaging W/ SW winds.

This cold front is expected to bring Showers even snow down to 700m but the Central North and Eastern half of the state remains dry.

Wind driven fires are expected to be very difficult to control and fast moving under these circumstances even under a cooler change.

Winds are expected to ease into Monday but remaining Gusty to Strong throughout the state finally easing Tuesday.

People need to be proactive and prepared don't wait for a warning to take action by then it's already too late.

Everyone should have a Bushfire Emergency plan and stay updated.

If you see smoke report it immediately to 000.

No one should be burning anything this weekend.

Anyway i will do my best to keep you updated ❤️ look after eachother and please be safe.

~Nick

11/12/2025

FRIDAY IS THE NEXT HIGH RISK FIRE DAY.

Strong N/E winds and temperatures in the high 20's makes for high fire risk. Please be mindful of the conditions, we can work together as a community to ensure the safety of everyone.

03/12/2025

ATTENTION COLES BAY COMMUNITY
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE FIRE CHIEF RE THIS FIRE SEASON

Due to a lack of volunteers in some areas of Glamorgan Spring Bay, it is likely that the Coles Bay Brigade will be called off the Peninsula more regularly this summer.
I.e. we might not be here if/when stuff happens! 😲😲😲

We are asking for the community to be mindful of weather conditions if
considering lighting small burns or undertaking activities outside causing sparks (e.g. using grinders).

IMPORTANT - Register your burns at any time of the year – 1800 000 699. Doing so avoids unecessary call outs for the brigade when someone reports smoke in the area.

We are a small brigade of only 7 active members. Some people's Ill-considered behaviour is putting pressure on us, so thinking before you act would be appreciated.

And of course any new members would be appreciated which would help for next year. If you want to volunteer, contact us, The Coles Bay Oracle, and we'll put you in touch.

Nick Johnston
Coles Bay Volunteer Brigade

20/09/2025

8:15pm. Controlled

Fire reported Coles Bay Rd. We'll update when we know more. Go to Tasalerts for up to date information.

TasALERT and TasRECOVERY provides a centralised online platform helping you to know what to do before, during and after an emergency event.

08/09/2025

12/11/2024

Taslerts notification for a fire at Friendly Beaches Lodge.
More to come when we have further information.

However.... Felix Ellis MP, this new TasALERT system offers far less information than the old Tasmania Fire Service website did. You used to be able to see how many tankers, fixed wing, choppers etc were on the job. And hectares burned. Sometimes a map of the burned area too.
Now all you get is going or controlled as a status. We talked about this following the Coles Bay Rd fire last year and nothing has changed on this new system since.

Can this information provision be looked at being provided again? A step backwards in information provision seems to go against the development of technology and the ability to provide up to date and relevant information to the public. People need to know this stuff guys. It's really not too much to ask for this level of information provision to be returned to the Tasmanian public.
Thanks

Kerry Vincent - Liberal for Prosser, Guy Barnett, Mark Shelton MP
Jeremy Rockliff, Jane Howlett
Jen Butler MP, Rebecca White MP, Dean Winter MP
Tabatha Badger MP, Andrew Jenner MP
The Mercury Newspaper, The Examiner Newspaper, Launceston
Pulse Tasmania, ABC Hobart

TasALERT and TasRECOVERY provides a centralised online platform helping you to know what to do before, during and after an emergency event.

10/11/2024

UPDATE 2:20PM
There's an alert come up for a fire at Kelverton too.
Again, look at Tasalerts for updates.

There's a TasALERT notification for a fire in the Lake Leake area.

If you haven't downloaded the Tasalerts app, then please do so to get notifications and keep up to date with this situation.

https://alert.tas.gov.au/about-app

TasALERT and TasRECOVERY provides a centralised online platform helping you to know what to do before, during and after an emergency event.

09/11/2024

UPDATE 4:40PM
TASALERTS changed status to being controlled.
The Wineglass walking track is open again, per Parks.
The MT AMOS TRACK IS STILL CLOSED, as you would expect.
We will update when there is a change.

UPDATE 2:40PM
Parks have advised accommodation providers that the Wineglass Bay Track is now closed because of the fire on the Mt Amos Track.

Tasalerts has issued a notification for a fire on the Mt Amos track.
We will update when we know more.

TasALERT and TasRECOVERY provides a centralised online platform helping you to know what to do before, during and after an emergency event.