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A bushfire emergency impacting coastal towns in Perth's north is threatening lives and homes for a fourth day and may continue for several more as flames are fanned further up the coast.
Key points:
- The fire has burnt through 12,000 hectares, destroying several structures
- DFES' commissioner says difficult times are ahead and warns of further damage
- Authorities say they don't believe arson is to blame for the fire
The 230 firefighters battling the blaze were able to slow the spread of the fire overnight but are facing changing winds and more hot weather today, with a forecast top of 41 degrees Celsius.
An emergency warning is in place for a 45-kilometre stretch of coast including the towns of Two Rocks, Guilderton and Seabird and the smaller communities of Woodridge, Caraban, Gabbadah and Neergabby.
A watch and act warning extends north to the coastal town of Ledge Point and south to Yanchep and Eglinton.
One home, a petrol station and some buildings associated with Yanchep National Park were lost when the bushfire started on Wednesday but since then no other homes have been lost.
'We've got difficult times ahead': commissioner
Fire and Emergency Services commissioner Darren Klemm says firefighters are facing extremely difficult conditions today.
"The fire is moving towards the Woodridge estate and we need people to leave that area now," he said.
"The fire is moving at a rapid rate to the north-east and as you've seen with the wind conditions we've got here today, it's going to be difficult for us to pull that fire up before we get into nightfall tonight.
"We've continued to put containment lines around massive areas of this fire, but we are dealing with really, really difficult conditions and we've consistently seen those containment lines being breached.
"We've got some difficult times ahead of us — today and tomorrow are going to be particularly challenging and people need to be aware that things could escalate from here in terms of the damage."
Fire will burn for days
Department of Fire and Emergency Services superintendent Gary Baxter said the fire could burn for more than a week.
"I don't suspect that we're going to extinguish it anytime in the next week or so but certainly we'll try and get containment lines strengthened," he said.
"Controlling it is a different thing but containing it over the next few days is an objective you'd hope in the next couple of weeks to fully extinguish the fire.
"That's to completely extinguish 100 per cent of the fire ground — that's a complete blackout — so that over the next few weeks and into the next couple of months of over summer we don't have to revisit the same patch."
Superintendent Baxter says the area is a popular holiday destination and some people are not taking the warnings seriously.
"We had people fishing along the beach yesterday," he said.
"We have asked people not to go there to evacuate out of the area but unfortunately some people don't think that their safety is as paramount as we do."
More 40C days to come
The fire has been fuelled by heatwave conditions that saw temperatures in the city top 40 degrees Celsius on Friday, with similarly high temperatures to continue through to Sunday.
It has so far burnt through 12,000 hectares of bushland, tearing through the Yanchep National Park.
The fire is moving in a north-westerly direction, just south of Guilderton.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Steph Bond said winds were not forecast to be as strong as previous days.
"But what is still a bit worrisome is the amount of wind direction changes we have today," she said.
"Just because winds have eased, it doesn't mean the danger has stopped at all, and we still have that hot day tomorrow as well."
Wind change to test containment lines
DFES superintendent Andrew Hinton said the coastal terrain had made the firefighting effort very difficult.
"Some appliances got bogged last night, it's very difficult in the sand dunes," he said.
"It's tricky country, it's as tricky as we get here."
Superintendent Hinton said the strategy last night was to allow the fire to burn to the coast and then stop its tracks to the north.
"We refer to the big blue fire break — the best break we've got is the beach," he said.
He said wind changes today and could threaten the semi-rural community of Woodridge.
"It's going to come through gusty — they're forecasting 50-kilometre [per hour] gusts at the wind change — but that's when the pressure point comes on," he said.
Two Rocks resident Lyn Ward said it was scary to watch flames come so close to her neighbourhood.
"The house, everything stinks of smoke. It's really uncomfortable at the moment," he said.
"I tell you what, those firies, they deserve every penny they earn, they're amazing — they've saved everything.
"These poor guys are worn out now. I don't know how the guys over east have been doing for weeks and weeks on end."
Cause of fire 'not suspicious'
Superintendent Hinton would not be drawn on the cause of the fire, but ruled out arson.
"We think we know the point of origin and we don't think it's suspicious — that's all we're saying at this stage," he said.
Several main roads into the area have been closed including a 60-kilometre stretch of Indian Ocean Drive from Pipidinny Road to the turnoff to Seabird.
People in Guilderton and Woodbridge are being told to leave to the east towards Gingin.
Authorities say it is too late for people living in the Breakwater and Seatrees Estates to leave and they must take shelter.
More than 30 residents have taken shelter at the Gumblossom Community Centre in Quinns Rocks, while a second evacuation centre has been set up at the Granville Civic Centre in Gingin.
Utility services have been affected by the fire with 258 properties without power, telephone services down in the Two Rocks area and bore fields supplying water to Two Rocks compromised.
Western Power said people in Seatrees and Breakwater Estates will not have power restored until at least Sunday.
Yanchep National Park and the Wilbinga Conservation Park remains closed.
There is a total fire ban across the Perth metropolitan area today.
The Red Cross has established a hotline number for people affected by the fire to get in touch with family and friends; 1800 351 375
Topics: bushfire, disasters-and-accidents, perth-6000, two-rocks-6037, yanchep-6035, wa
First posted