Perth Hills fire: 'Still a long way to go' in fighting blaze
Authorities in Western Australia say 71 homes are now known to have been destroyed in the bushfire emergency east of Perth.
Hundreds of firefighters have been battling the blaze since Monday. Photo: DFES Western Australia / Incident Photographer Evan Collis
Hundreds of people have spent the night in evacuation centres and an emergency warning remains in place for the out-of-control blaze, which started in Wooroloo on Monday and is continuing to threaten lives and homes.
WA’s Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm said no properties were impacted overnight, but assessment teams had confirmed the number of properties lost had increased to 71, and they were still working through the fire zone.
But crews are expecting conditions to worsen today.
Klemm said they were concerned about the impact of high winds forecast for this afternoon, with wind gusts of 70 kilometres per hour.
The Commissioner said there were “challenging times ahead” and “still a long way to go with this fire”.
He said people in the Shady Hills Estate, and on the outskirts of Bullsbrook, should have their bushfire plans in place.
“There is particular concern today for later this afternoon for the area of Shady Hills Estate, we’re going to see gusts of up to 70 kilometres an hour in that north-west corner of the fire,” Mr Klemm said.
He said there was no evidence of any lives having being lost at this stage.
The massive fire has burned through more than 9400 hectares of land so far, with more than 200 firefighters battling the blaze on Wednesday.
The emergency warning covers parts of The Vines, Bailup, Ellenbrook, Gidgegannup, Millendon, Walynga National Park, Upper Swan, Aveley, Henley Brook, Avon Valley National Park, Red Hill, Belhus, Baskerville, Herne Hill, Bullsbrook, Wooroloo and Brigadoon, in the shires of Mundaring, Chittering and Northam and the City of Swan.
The fire is currently moving in a south-westerly direction.
Three evacuation centres have been set up, at the Brown Park Recreation Complex in Swan View, Swan Active in Midland and Swan Active in Beechboro.
Perth is in the middle of a five-day coronavirus lockdown, which began on Sunday evening.
Klemm said people needed to be decisive with their evacuation plans and follow crew instructions, even if they were in lockdown due to Covid-19.
– ABC
