Stieglitz residents stay to defend homes amid bushfire near St Helens on Tasmania's east coast
The bushfire on Tasmania's east coast quickly escalated to an emergency situation. (Supplied: Trent Ganley)
As a bushfire rages in Stieglitz, resident Paul Worsteling shelters in his car, charging his phone while saltwater sprinkles down on the roof.
"It's not raining," he says.
"It's actually saltwater coming out of the massive pots on the bottom of the choppers.
"It's quite, quite surreal."
Mr Worsteling has been defending his home at Stieglitz, near St Helens, on Tasmania's east coast.
It is a community made up of permanent homes and "shacks" — holiday homes that are not always occupied — with a bay and St Helens on one side and a long stretch of beach and open ocean on the other.
On Tuesday afternoon, a bushfire broke out near Dianas Basin and started spreading towards the town, burning through 1,400 hectares.
The Tasmania Fire Service has twice upgraded the alert to emergency level, warning residents to evacuate, before downgrading it.
Mr Worsteling and 10 to 15 neighbouring households decided to stay and defend their properties on Tuesday while others evacuated.
Some of the scenes that greeted firefighters as worked to defend properties. (Supplied: Tasmania Fire Service)
He said he and the family had not been getting much sleep as they tried to keep up with changing weather conditions and advice from authorities, all while power in the house was out due to the fire.
"It's difficult to monitor because all our phones are going flat. We kept one charged all the time, and we just had a little plan with all the neighbours," he said.
"We made an evacuation plan down to the beach — which was very safe; we had boats, all valuables parked down by the water.
"The simple plan was, if anything changed or any danger was coming, just get in the car and start honking your horn, to let everyone know that 'Hey, it's time to get serious and just find out what's going on'."
The bushfire as seen from St Helens, looking towards Stieglitz. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
Mr Worsteling said at one point he was helping a neighbour put a sprinkler on his roof, when he saw the fire two blocks away, "licking the back fences of all the homes along the street".
"I'm pretty sure the firies have saved all of them, which is just incredible,"he said.
Paul Worsteling said he saw flames "licking the back fences" of nearby houses. (Supplied: Paul Worsteling)
Mr Worsteling said community support had been strong, with locals rallying around those who had lost homes.
"The community aspect of this has just been unbelievable, and I've got to shout out to every single person who volunteered to fight these fires."
The bushfire sent a huge plume of smoke out over the bay and the sea. (Supplied: Ned Bramich)
Comforts offered to evacuees
An evacuation centre has opened at the Break O'Day Community Stadium in St Helens.
Michelle Appleby got the call at 5:50am to help out at the centre by making free hot drinks for people displaced by the bushfires.
Michelle Appleby says a free warm drink can help those who need to evacuate. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
"We've had one little family here that slept in their car last night. Their dad was 94, so that was a bit rough for a lot of them," she said.
"Anything we could do, this is only something small, but a coffee can sometimes make your day just that little bit better."
She said the council was covering the costs.
On Tuesday, Stieglitz locals were told to evacuate. (Supplied: Trent Ganley)
Break O'Day Mayor Mick Tucker, who said he was operating on about two hours' sleep, had a busy night at the evacuation centre.
"It would be fair to say that we've had 100 people through the door," he said.
"A lot of people stayed overnight, and the navy cadets alongside opened up, and they've got people sleeping in there in their accommodation.
"We had people who stayed on the boat ramp at Stieglitz last night as the last port of call.
"It's been amazing the amount of goodwill being shown by people throughout our community, offering their house, their Airbnbs, any accommodation available has been offered."
Trent Ganley captured the bushfire from Cosy Corner on Tasmania's east coast on Tuesday evening. (Supplied: Trent Ganley)