Out-of-control bushfires are continuing to ravage the Peel region, with one emergency-level blaze continuing to burn through southern parts of Serpentine bushland and threatening lives and homes.
A bushfire watch and act is in place for people in North Dandalup and Barragup as a fire approaches, posing a possible threat to lives and homes.
If the way is clear they should leave now for a safer place. If they cannot leave, then they should get ready to shelter in their homes.
So far 1561 hectares have been burnt in the Serpentine fires. On Saturday, 270 hectares were burnt in the Nambeelup fire and 113 hectares in the North Dandalup fire — which are both now at a watch and act level.
Firefighters have battled through the night to contain the blazes and are being assisted by aerial support - a C130 Hercules waterbomber from New South Wales capable of carrying 15,000 litres of water — is due to arrive today.
The fires, sparked by lightning strikes overnight on Friday and Saturday, were late on Saturday threatening Karnet Prison Farm and the Bodhinyana Buddhist Monastery.
In the metro area, a playground in Piara Waters was torched after it was engulfed by flames at 3.50pm.
The emergency also forced the closure of the Kwinana Freeway for hours after flames jumped the road. This morning Albany Highway has closed between Jarrhdale Road and North Bannister-Wandering Road.
For more information visit Emergency WA, call 13 DFES (13 3337), follow DFES on Facebook, listen to ABC Local Radio, 6PR, or news bulletins.
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Key Events
Residents gather amid ongoing Serpentine bushfires
About 200 firefighters were working to battle 10 active fires in Serpentine-Jarrahdale on Sunday.
Water bombers and helicopters had been assisting with the emergency-level blaze through southern parts of Serpentine bushland.
“The fire near Serpentine dam is the real big one for us at the moment,” deputy incident controller Peter Hartley said.
He said firefighters were working as hard as they could but the blaze was still not contained or controlled.
“Thanks to the firefighters particularly the volunteers that have been fighting this fire for over 36 hours now,” Mr Hartley said.
Jane Radny was among the residents who had to evacuate from their properties.
“On Saturday afternoon we saw the smoke billowing and it was really quite close,” Ms Radny said.
“It was very scary as we’ve got horses, dogs, and cats and our property has two boundaries with the national park so if that goes up we’re in big strife.
“We grabbed everything precious, loaded up the animals and just took off.”
A fire in Barragup was downgraded to a watch and act on Sunday but locals are still waiting for their street to open.
Caiden Mossman was anxious to see if there was any damage to his property after seeing concerning footage on his security cameras.
“We’ve got security cameras so we watched them and saw the front of the street just go up,” he said.
“Hopefully we’re lucky but there’s a couple of houses down where sheds and caravans got burnt.
“We are just constantly checking if we can go home.”
Piara Waters fire under investigation
A Piara Waters blaze that engulfed a playground on Saturday would now be investigated by arson police, Klemm said.
The fire was called as all clear on Sunday.
“One of the key outcomes we look for from every fire is the cause and origin of those fires,” Klemm said.
“I would anticipate there’ll be good information from those local people around that park to provide to police to make sure that we’re apprehending someone if that is the case.”
Nambeelup Fires
Addressing concerns raised from some residents who have been unable to return home after a fire in Nambeelup, Klemm said the fire hadn’t been contained and controlled.
“We’ve got some some internal minor roads that are closed there,” he said.
“We haven’t called that fire contained and controlled as yet.
“Soon as we do that, we’ll get those homeowners back in there.”
Klemm said residents could contact the DFES line on 13 DFES to get up-to-date details on when they could return, but flagged in the event of a extended local out, permits maybe offered to those residents with horses or stock.
Serpentine Fires
Ahead of a community meeting this afternoon in Serpentine, Klemm said initial concerns that two fires in the area - one at Mount Cook and the other at Serpentine Dam, which has seen the closure of Albany Highway - had abated after fire fighting overnight.
“That is particularly difficult terrain, and there is a large amount of fire on the ground,” Klemm said.
“We do have concerns over the next two or three days. We’re obviously a lot of work is going to go into making sure that the western side of that fire is contained.
“What we don’t want to do is we go into the next weather cycle later in the week and on into the weekend, and we’re still having to deal with active fire edge on the western side of it.”
DFES commissioner holds press conference
DFES commissioner Darren Klemm has just finished speaking to the media. Here’s a few of the main takeaways.
Hundreds of firefighters are out at the scenes of fires across the State. Saturday’s hot weather in the southern half of WA saw more than 100 bushfires burning.
“During the course of Saturday, high temperatures and really strong winds caused for some at one point over 100 bushfires were burning in the southern half of the state that it made it particularly difficult for crews,” Klemm said.
“We were able to deal with the majority of those incidents between farmers, local bush fire brigade volunteers out in the Wheatbelt and also career firefighters, volunteer firefighters, and firefighters from DBCA.”
A significant change in weather conditions has made fighting the fires much easier. However as the weather moves over the State, the aerial bomber will be on standby in case response is needed to fires in the Wheatbelt or the Goldfields.
“It’s certainly been a relief for crews and we’ve got a good four to five days now of more stable milder weather conditions, which is going to give us a great opportunity to get around these fires and make them safe,” Klemm told reporters.
Over 1000 hectares burnt in Serpentine, community meeting to be held
1561 hectares have burnt across the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale area, which has been persistently burning for 16 hours.
A community meeting will be held at 3pm today at the Serpentine Jarrahdale Civic Centre located at 6 Paterson Street in Mundijong.
The fire, which started near the Serpentine Dam, was caused by a lightning strike on Saturday morning.
It is currently the only fire in the Peel region that holds an emergency status, as firefighters continue to tackle the blaze and track the northwest boundary.
Air tanker a regular to WA skies
The massive NSW air tanker due to land in Busselton this afternoon is no stranger to Western Australia.
“Ty”, also known as Bomber 132, is a regular to WA skies each bushfire season.
The Lockheed C-130, owned by Coulson Aviation, was converted to a bushfire fighter in 2020.
Last year, the State Government signed a four year deal with company to service WA during our hottest months.
“Coulson is proud to continue to support Western Australia with our C-130, which will be one of the key assets supporting the rapidly approaching and potentially devastating bushfire season,” Coulson Aviation Australia chief executive Britt Coulson said at the time.
“Western Australia is like a second home for this aircraft. It was the first place the airplane fought fire after we converted it and we’re pleased to see it return to its proving grounds.”
After a stint in WA in 2021, the aircraft was painted by a local artist mid-water dump.
Barragup community on edge after close call
Barragup resident Matt Treloar said the community is feeling “volatile and anxious” following a tense night of rapidly moving bushfires, which is understood to have left sheds and properties destroyed.
“It all looks pretty black now... it was pretty scary.”
“A lot of property, sheds and paddocks have been destroyed,” he said.
The fire is now impacting areas of Barragup, Nambeelup and Stake Hill. It is stationary but has not been contained or controlled.
Several local roads remain closed and residents are still advised to avoid west of Kwinana Freeway to Peaceful Waters Drive and Hougham Road and north of Tranquil Retreat.
“There’s about 30-40 cars banked up and wanting to get back to the homes and check on pets,” Mr Treloar said.
“A lot of us have animals down here, with horse and sheep on paddocks.
“I’ve spoken to neighbours who are stuck out of their homes and it seems things are getting pretty heated... people are feeling distressed.”
After a sleepless night filled with the sounds of sirens and helicopters, Mr Treloar said it had been an intense 24 hours for everyone in the neighbourhood.
“My neighbour was fending off the fire from his backyard porch,” he said.
“I had to rush to save my friend’s dog, it was pretty scary.
“It was definitely a bit of a wake-up call for all of us.”
Mr Treloar said some residents had decided to go against DFES protocols and travelled back to their property.
“They went back [to their home] and now they’re stuck out there.”
“Power is still out at the end of Dunkerton Road.”
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2023-11-05 09:04:00Z
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