“Our neighbours lost almost everything, their beautiful two-storey house on their lake; that went apparently 15 minutes after us.
“It just ripped through, we’d had 14 millimetres of rain in five months, so the forest was tinder-dry and the wind was up to almost 40-50 kilometres an hour.”
Aerial support and 150 firefighters are battling the blaze as it moves west.
The state’s Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm said the fire was believed to have been caused by campers using a car battery to charge devices.
“The fire is burning through steep and hilly terrain with thick forest and old-growth pine that is very dry and difficult to access,” he said.
“The large air tanker has dropped 135,000 litres on the fire since Saturday and has been a critical defensive strategy in protecting homes.
“I can confirm that two outbuildings have been lost and we are expecting to confirm further property loss today.”
There is still an immediate threat to lives and homes, and we urge anyone in the Emergency Warning area to leave.Credit: DFES
Various parts of the region are under bushfire emergency-level warning with others under watch and act and advice alerts, including Waroona and Pinjarra, whose communities have already known bushfire devastation in past years.
A community meeting is scheduled for 2pm at a local evacuation centre, and the region’s campgrounds recreational sites and parts of the famous Munda Biddi hiking trail have been closed.
Source Agencies
