A 34-year-old farmer has died after a tree fell on his car after he helped fire crews battling a bushfire in Western Australia’s south.
WA police said the man was driving along the Old Ongerup Road in Mindarabin, more than 300km south-east of Perth, at about 8.10pm on Tuesday when a tree fell on his vehicle, crushing the cab.
The man was part of a local farmer response unit and had earlier been helping fire crews battle a large bushfire in the area.
“Sadly, he sustained critical injuries and died at the scene,” a police spokesperson said.
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The death is not being treated as a suspicious and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
The blaze, which has burned through more than 5,000 hectares, reached emergency level on Tuesday, but has since been downgraded.
The man’s death is the second linked to bushfires in WA in recent weeks. Ravensthorpe shire’s deputy president, Mark Mudie, was killed on 1 December while trying to establish a fire break on his property in West River.
Firefighters in southern parts of the state have battled multiple emergency-level blazes this week sparked by dry lightning, amid hot, dry and windy conditions.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued severe heatwave warnings for several areas, including the Goldfields, Eucla, South Interior, South Coastal and Great Southern regions.
Elsewhere in Australia, heatwave warnings are in place for the south coast of New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and parts of Victoria including the Northern Country, North East, East Gippsland, West and South Gippsland regions.
Victoria’s Country Fire Authority has issued a total fire ban for the Wimmera region on Thursday due to very hot temperatures expected to reach the low 40s and moderate west to north westerly winds.
“Tomorrow’s conditions will make it difficult for firefighters to suppress a fire should one start,” CFA chief officer, Jason Heffernan, said.
Heffernan acknowledged the challenges the region’s farmers were experiencing due to prolonged drought conditions but urged them to postpone paddock work.
“We have already seen several large agricultural fires involving crops and hay over recent weeks in the west and northwest and with strong gusty winds anticipated, ignition is a real possibility.”
