Summary
Three people remain missing in the Yarloop fire, some eight hours after this was first reported. Three other people did turn up in the mean time, but DFES media has confirmed to Guardian Australia that these were a separate trio and the original three, who are all understood to be individuals who were not with family members, are still unaccounted for.
The fire is still out of control and is now 60,000ha with a perimeter of 212km. A wind change late afternoon was expected to fan the fire toward the coastal towns of Binningup and Myalup, as well as south to the towns of Cookernup and Harvey.
Firefighters have been backburning on the northern side of Harvey to protect that town. Preston Beach, on the coast, has been completely cut off by fire and supplies have been flown in.
The heritage-listed town of Yarloop has lost 95 houses and a number of other significant historic structures. DFES has yet to confirm property losses in any other locations because their assessors, who have been combing through the area today, are yet to report back.
Most of the 150 people who remained in Yarloop overnight have, after some delay, arrived at the evacuation centre in Australind. Some 700 people are sheltering at that evacuation point and at another centre in Pinjarra. The state government has made assistance grants available.
Fire conditions, while not as severe as Thursday, are expected to remain difficult into the evening.
We are going to wrap up our live coverage here. Our thoughts are with everyone in the fire zone. Please stay safe.
A new emergency warning has been issued for Nicholson Road in Forrestdale, on the outskirts of Perth. It’s not connected to the main fire but one of many fire started by lightning today.
Residents on Nicholson Road have been advised to leave. You can read the full alert here.
We still don’t have numbers on stock losses from the fire, but given it is burning through dairy cow country the prospect is grim.
The Department of Agriculture is offering assistance to farmers:
This number's been set up for farmers impacted by the fires who wish to speak to our team re: livestock #WaroonaFire pic.twitter.com/U2YEU3F7lc
— DAF_WA (@DAF_WA) January 8, 2016
The WA Farmers Federation is also trying to help by drumming up cash donations for affected farmers. The federation recently delivered 50 tonnes of livestock pellets to farmers in Esperance affected by the fatal bushfires at Salmon Gums and Grass Patch in November, and has distributed seven tonnes of seed grain.
But president Dale Park said Waroona was now the priority:
Cash is the most practical donation at this stage as people slowly start to assess the damage and determine what they need to repair their lives.
Once the fires are extinguished and the full extent of the damage can be determined, more information about how to support the affected communities will be provided
More thunderstorms are heading over the fire zone.
A very active line of thunderstorms heading for #Waroona. Smoke plume seen to south of line.https://t.co/5qCGv883AR pic.twitter.com/1Q6QmG7KGb
— BOM WA (@BOM_WA) January 8, 2016
This, as previously mentioned, is only good news if it comes with 2-3 hours of sustained rain.
WA Police has nixed earlier reports of looting in Waroona, which was evacuated on Thursday.
Like to confirm at this point in time WA Police have not received any confirmed reports of looting from fire area pic.twitter.com/v2ttgWdRHB
— WA Police (@WA_Police) January 8, 2016
Concerns were raised by Waroona residents in community meetings at Pinjarra and Australind this afternoon.
Apparently those few spots of rain over the fire ground this morning were a bad thing. According to BoM’s Neil Bennett the fire created its own thunderstorm yesterday, and if there’s a bit of moisture around - but not enough rain to actually dampen the fire - it could do it again.
Bennett told the ABC’s PM program:
When you have a fire, you’re going to have, obviously, very hot conditions and air is forced to rise and if you have enough moisture in the air you are then going to form clouds. And the reason for that is that the fire is throwing out lots and lots of very, very small particles of soot, carbon and those tiny, little particles form what we call condensation nuclei that the water vapour can condense onto.
In turn those clouds create gusty and variable winds, which make fighting the fire “difficult and treacherous”.
When we’re talking about a race against time, it’s the sheer size of this thing that’s a problem. So even with just small gusty winds in sea breezes when you think the conditions are benign, they can flare up again. So this is going to take some time to fight.
Food and water is being airlifted into the town of Preston Beach, which is completely cut off by fire. The supplies are due to land within the hour and will be taken to the general store for collection.
The town had a population of 281 at last census. It has limited access at the best of times and is located on a thin strip of land between Lake Clifton and Lake Preston, both long, skinny lakes that are more like inlets.
The fire has reportedly burned all the way to the coastline north of the town.
I’ve been trying to do a rough tally of the number of houses lost so far this fire season. The number I’ve come up with is 263.
That’s 116 from the Wye River/Separation Creek fire in Victoria, 12 from the Scotsburn fire in Vic, 5 in the Indigo Valley fire (also Vic), 35 in the Pinery bushfire in South Australia, and of course 95 at Yarloop.
It’s very likely I’m missing some. The fire at Esperance, which killed four people, appears only to have destroyed farm buildings, not actual houses.
Which is of course the other worrying statistic - six people have been killed so far this fire season, in the Esperance and Pinery bushfires in November. So far there have been no confirmed fatalities for the Waroona/Yarloop fire, but has mentioned there’s a bit of uncertainty about those missing people.
Unfortunately the Waroona/Yarloop fire is not the only bushfire in WA today. That thunderstorm seen earlier today is still hanging around Perth, and lightning has started a number of fires in the Armadale/Kwinana area.
View of the smoke from fire south of Kwinana #waweather #perthnews pic.twitter.com/UX8JS2TGMf
— Mark Gray (@markagray1) January 8, 2016
Left the #waroonafire and encountered this on Armadale Rd on the way home. Slow progress through here. #perthnews pic.twitter.com/msOrZyAkuV
— Sonia Sweeny (@theshoppingwife) January 8, 2016
Peter Henderson, from the Department of Parks and Wildlife, has told ABC local radio in Perth that the fire had broken out on the northwestern corner, near Lake Clifton, as well as burning out of controlled on the southwestern flank.
Henderson said any relief provided by a small amount of rain this morning had gone.
This afternoon a lot of that cloud cover has gone and the wind has really picked up and it’s getting quite hot again. Really that change hasn’t helped at all.
He said firefighters were “very fatigued” and many were on to their second shift.
Hello, Calla Wahlquist back again.
We’ll try to get to the bottom of these conflicting reports about whether people missing in the fire have been found.
In the mean time, here are the key points from the community meeting in Australind, which just finished.
- The fire has now spread to 60,000ha, and the perimeter is a huge 212km.
- The community of Preston Beach, on the coast west of Yarloop, is now completely cut off by fire.
- Firefighters have been backburning north of Harvey in order to protect the town. Apparently that operation is going well.
- Conditions are expected to worsen as the afternoon wears on - it’s just after 3pm in WA - but they won’t be quite as bad as conditions on Thursday afternoon.
- There will be a wind change from a northeasterly to an easterly later this afternoon, which will push the fire toward the towns of Myalup and Binningup, which is on the coast south of Preston Beach.
Updated
The fire’s perimeter is a huge 212km, authorities have said, and has burned through almost 60,000 hectares.
I’m handing back to Call Wahlquist now, who will take the rolling coverage through the next few hours.
Correction: three possibly still missing
A possible correction to earlier reports. A family of three has turned up, DFES has told Guardian Australia, but they were not the three people listed as missing.
We’ll work to confirm earlier reports of other people found.
The below images of firefighters battling the flames at Waroona were taken yesterday.
Missing people all accounted for - police
Some good news.
ABC journalist Jade Macmillan has reported all three people missing in the fires have now been found.
John King, who was missing overnight, turned up at a friend’s house today, Roxanne Taylor reports. It’s likely, but not confirmed, that King is one of the three people listed as missing in the fires.
Police have accounted for one of the three people missing from Yarloop @abcnewsPerth @ABCNews24
— Jade Macmillan (@JadeMacmillan1) January 8, 2016
Police now say the other 2 people missing from Yarloop have also been found- all 3 now accounted for @abcnewsPerth @ABCNews24
— Jade Macmillan (@JadeMacmillan1) January 8, 2016
Kath King's husband John was missing all night in Yarloop fire. He arrived at friend's house this morn @abcnewsPerth pic.twitter.com/yVNCPFIyd4
— RoxanneTaylor (@Roxanne_Taylor) January 8, 2016
Updated
The Southbound music festival, which was forced to cancel because of the fires, has offered its campground and facilities to emergency services.
Organisers have posted the offer on social media in response to enquiries: “Whilst we sadly are in pack down and commencing bump out of the festival we have decided to keep part of the campground open,” they wrote.
“Tents set up with Shower and Toilet facilities in place have been offered to the emergency services in case it’s needed for temporary accom and shelter over the next few days. Emergency Services will manage this when needed.”
Myalup now included in emergency warning
An updated emergency warning bulletin from the DFES now includes the town of Myalup. The full briefing can be found here. Below are the areas of concern.
A bushfire EMERGENCY WARNING remains in place for people in an area bounded by Forrest Highway, Dorsett Road, Williamson Road, Mayfield Road, South Western Highway, Nanga Brook Road, Dawn Creek Road to Murray River, Murray River to Driver Road, Logue Brook Road, Dupont Road, Tallanalla Road, Harvey-Quindanning Road and Forestry Road in the Shires of Waroona and Harvey.
This includes the town sites of Waroona, Hamel, Cookenup, Yarloop and Harvey.
A bushfire EMERGENCY WARNING remains in place for people in Preston Beach and Lake Clifton in the Shire of Waroona.
A bushfire EMERGENCY WARNING has now been issued for Myalup.
More from the community meeting. According to media reports, residents won’t know until at least tomorrow if their house is among the 95 believed lost to the fire at Yarloop.
Ada Farmer, one resident who knows for certain her house was destroyed, told the ABC “our community is all gone.” Farmer was not home when the fire came through but a neighbour rescued her dog, the ABC reported.
Cuts to the water supply yesterday afternoon were also addressed at the meeting by the WA Water Corporation, which said it lost complete access to its tanks at around 7.30pm.
Addresing complaints from residents water was cut in Yarloop, @watercorpwa says it lost complete access to its tanks around 7.30pm Thurs
— Gian De Poloni (@GianDePoloni) January 8, 2016
Residents will not be told if their houses have been destroyed until tomorrow morning. Not what they were wanting to hear. @TenNewsPerth
— Aleisha Banner (@AleishaBanner10) January 8, 2016
People who have lost their home in the fire will be eligible for up to $3000 in immediate government assistance, acting WA premier Kim Hames has told residents at the Australind community meeting.
Hames said the government would support and provide emergency disaster relief funding to fire victims.
Hello, this is Helen Davidson, taking you through for the next couple of hours.
The below video is from volunteer firefighter, Patrick, who was at the Waroona fire last night.
A taste of the small stuff at the #WaroonaFire @mandurahmail @coastfmlive pic.twitter.com/iANufERO1E
— Templeman Twells (@TemplemanTwells) January 7, 2016
And this timelapse, taken by Twitter user Hannah near her home in Bunbury, is from yesterday.
Shot some time-lapse footage yesterday! Currently preparing our home, incase we have to evacuate. #WaroonaFire pic.twitter.com/0mVFQcwB9S
— Hannah M (@thestyleop) January 8, 2016
The fire has grown in size again - it’s now 55,000ha. According to the latest advice from DFES not much has changed. It is still moving fast in a southwesterly direction, fanned by east and northeasterly winds. Emergency warnings remain in place.
The first of two scheduled community meetings kicked off at the Leschenault Leisure Centre in Australind a few minutes ago.
Hundreds pack a community meeting in Leschenault to be briefed about the latest on the south west fires #perthnews pic.twitter.com/9sgQPCnGEe
— Grant Wynne (@Grant_Wynne) January 8, 2016
I’m about to hand over to my colleague, Helen Davidson, for a little while. Stay safe, westies.
The bushfire has left about 3900 people out of power, according to state-owned electricity provider Western Power.
A number of power poles are understood to have burned and fallen in areas directly affected by the fire, like Yarloop, and there are also a number of reports of trees over the line.
Western Power has issued a statement saying it could take some time to get things working again - at present they can’t even get into the area to assess the damage, because it’s still on fire. It has set up temporary generators to power the aged care facility, supermarket and petrol station in Waroona.
We’ll just step off this fire for a moment. A report by DFES into dual fires at Northcliffe and Boddington in early 2015 has found that firefighters are put at risk when the agency tries to battle concurrent fires, because their resources are dangerously stretched.
This is from a report by AAP:
(The report) found “striking differences” in the responses to the fires, with notable gaps in the Boddington operation driven by inadequate resources in management.
It also highlighted an unco-ordinated operational response, poor management of crews and appliances, and insufficient community engagement.
“These breakdowns caused frustrations in operations and sometimes exposed firefighters and communities to higher levels of risk,” the report said.
In comparison, the Northcliffe response was found to be well resourced and effectively managed.
Opposition spokeswoman for emergency services Margaret Quirk criticised the timing of the publication, warning that services have had no time to act on the recommendations ahead of the current fire season.
“Reading the report was like Groundhog Day. Unfortunately, the report’s findings raised a number of issues highlighted in previous fire reviews,” she said.
Northcliffe and Boddington are some 300km apart. The former is south of Margaret River, the latter is east of the current bushfire at Waroona.
The report was published in December but picked up in local press today. You can read it in full here.
Remember that heartwarming story about music fans donating refunds from their Southbound tickets to bushfire relief? Some jerks have ruined it.
#Scam @facebook page offering refunds to #Southbound ticket holders by asking for SMS to a mobile phone number with their ticket ref. #Perth
— ConsumerProtectionWA (@ConsumerWA) January 8, 2016
State Liberal MP Murray Cowper has toured Yarloop and posted a haunting series of photos of what remains of the town.
— Murray Cowper (@MurrayCowperMLA) January 8, 2016
— Murray Cowper (@MurrayCowperMLA) January 8, 2016
— Murray Cowper (@MurrayCowperMLA) January 8, 2016
— Murray Cowper (@MurrayCowperMLA) January 8, 2016
What we know so far
The bushfire that destroyed almost 100 homes in Yarloop is still burning out of control, fanned by strong northeasterly and easterly winds. It’s moving quickly to the southwest, threatening the towns of Preston Beach, Lake Clifton, Crookernup, and Harvey. There is still an active fire in Yarloop and around the town of Waroona.
Three people who stayed in Yarloop on Thursday night remain missing. Most of the 150 people who stayed in the town were supposed to be evacuated this morning, but a spokeswoman from DFES said the helicopters set to ferry people out had been stood down. Sixteen people have elected to stay.
The fire destroyed 95 homes and a number of other buildings, including the school, shops, historic workshops and the fire stations. DFES assessors are going through the fire zone today, but have yet to confirm property losses in any other areas. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any other properties lost - they just haven’t reported back yet.
The Insurance Council of Australia has estimated the losses will be in the tens of millions of dollars.
So far the fire is 53,000 hectares, and growing. It’s cut off roads between Perth and the southwest, forced the closure of Southbound music festival and is raining ash on people as far away as Busselton, 120km to the south.
More than 350 people remain in evacuation centres in Pinjarra and Australind. They are unlikely to be allowed to return home today.
Might be time for a bit of local background.
Yarloop, just off the South Western Highway, is one of those towns you drive through. Unless you’re a history buff or a primary school student, in which case you turn in to look at the heritage-listed rail workshops that used to maintain the steam trains used by lumber company Millars.
At the beginning of last century, Millars was the biggest employer in the area and one of the largest milling companies worldwide.
Those workshops are reported to be among the buildings destroyed by the bushfire. They cannot be replaced.
Forrest MP and government whip, Nola Marino, has a dairy farm near Harvey. She told The West Australian she’s spoken to the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who has pledged assistance to those affected by the fire.
There are people sitting in evacuation centres that don’t know if they have lost their homes. The cumulative cost is huge.
According to the latest update from DFES, the fire has now grown to 53,000ha.
The fire is moving in a southwesterly direction, fanned by strong east and northeasterly winds. It has crossed Forrest Highway, near Old Coast Road, and crossed South Western Highway, near Yarloop. Both those roads, which are the major arterial connections between Perth and the southwest, are closed. People trying to get to and from Perth and towns such as Bunbury, Margaret River and Busselton are advised to take a wide detour out past Collie, via the Coalfields Highway and Albany Highway.
The winds are sending embers flying out in front of the fire, and spot fires are springing up.
The towns of Waroona, Yarloop, Preston Beach, Hamel, Cookenup, Harvey and Lake Clifton remain under emergency warning.
Updated
Tania Jackson, president of the Shire of Harvey is at the Leschenault leisure centre in Australind. She told ABC local radio in Perth that it’s quite hazy there. The smoke is hanging low, you can smell it.
It’s been a fire that’s been very visible and everyone is very concerned about that. Australind is not in the direct line of fire but it is slowly becoming closer and closer, everyone is being put on alert.
The oval at the leisure centre is full of people camped in their cars and caravans, many with their pets. The local community has been, if anything, a little too generous - Jackson asked that people stop bringing supplies to the centre as there is too much for them to process.
Jackson said there’s still not a lot of news coming through from the fire zone.
I’m confident that everything that can be done is being done, but the volatile situation of the different vegetations that this fire is burning through, and the wind conditions and the temperature, makes this a very difficult
There will be a community meeting at Leschenault leisure centre at 1pm local time, and a second meeting at 2pm at the northern evacuation point, Murray Leisure Centre in Pinjarra.
Updated
I’ve yet to hear any confirmed reports of stock losses from this bushfire, but they could be significant. Waroona, Yarloop and Harvey is cow country - there are a lot of dairy farms at Harvey - and it’s also horse country. There are a lot of horse studs, mainly thoroughbred studs, in the area. A number of those now anxiously waiting in evacuation centres would have left horses behind.
So this photo of firefighters rescuing a pony from Yarloop is particularly nice.
From a horse-lovers' fb page: #Firecrew rescuing #pony at #Yarloop ahead of #WaroonaFire. (Photo credit:Ebony Hill) pic.twitter.com/U9qdDdw5BX
— MAMA DUCK (@mamaduck9370) January 8, 2016
Bushfire damage bill 'tens of millions of dollars'
The damage bill from Yarloop and surrounding areas is likely to be “tens of millions of dollars” according to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).
The ICA has declared the affected area a catastrophe zone, which makes it easier for insurers to pay out claims.
ICA chief executive, Rob Whelan, said the initial figures were just an estimate. He urged residents to prioritise their safety over protecting property.
Just an update on that report of people being hit by lightning - according to a spokeswoman from the Shire of Murray, an evacuee was “affected by the lightning, but was not directly struck”. That person is being treated by paramedics.
People have reportedly been hit by lightning outside the evacuation centre in Pinjarra.
The ABC’s Roxanne Taylor is there.
BREAKING: Number of people been hit by lightning standing outside Pinjarra Evacuation Centre. Police ordering everyone inside. @abcnewsPerth
— RoxanneTaylor (@Roxanne_Taylor) January 8, 2016
Here’s that fire truck that was destroyed on Thursday. Four firefighters were on board, but Wayne Gregson said they all managed to escape with none or only minor injuries.
Picture of the fire truck destroyed in the fire at #Yarloop. #perthnews #wanews pic.twitter.com/h6fSp6vmud
— Lisa Barnes (@Barnsy_Lisa) January 8, 2016
I understand it was a professional fire truck, not a volunteer truck. It got caught near Clifton Beach - Gregson did not go into a lot of detail about what happened.
Helicopters have reportedly begun to land in Yarloop, ferrying supplies in and residents out.
Helicopters about to land in #Yarloop with supplies + will help evacuate residents. #perthnews #wafires #wanews pic.twitter.com/7mjseG5DdS
— Graeme Powell (@GraemePowell3) January 8, 2016
From images I’m seeing of the area, it looks like the sky is still pretty heavily full of smoke and ash. Could be a scary flight.
This is from the evacuation centre in Australind.
Sky very dark here at Australind evac centre. Ash falling from the sky, large clumps of it on the ground everywhere pic.twitter.com/EE0m2uGp1M
— Gian De Poloni (@GianDePoloni) January 8, 2016
Now for a small spot of good news. Music fans who have had their ticket refunded because Southbound festival was cancelled want to give the refund to those affected by the fires.
This is from the Southbound organisers:
We’ve had a lot of feedback regarding patrons wanting to donate both part or their entire ticket refund to those affected by the fire. We are currently working to set up a system where this can be facilitated. We have excess food on site which we will be offering to those who are both working to fight the fires and affected and currently working with the relevant parties to make this happen. We’ll keep you updated as we work on both of these initiatives. We are gutted but trying to turn our disappointment in not being able to deliver Southbound to you into a positive thing for those affected by the fires.
The festival, due to start today, was cancelled because the bushfire cut off the two major roads between Perth and the southwest coast. It’s held near Busselton, so was not actually in the path of the fire itself – unlike its sister festival, Falls Festival, which had to move its Lorne event over New Years Eve to avoid the Wye River bushfire.
Not a great year for the organisers, but a good year for music fans being lovely people and giving back to the community.
Updated
About 350 people have left the Yarloop and Waroona areas and are staying in evacuation centres in Pinjarra and Australind. Still more are with family and friends.
The fire hit with unexpected ferocity yesterday morning. This report, from AAP, explains:
Yarloop resident Kate Barry told AAP she lost her home in the blaze, but had no idea how bad the bushfire was until a local firefighter told her she had to evacuate.
She and her four children, aged between six and 19, managed to flee with their family photos, but everything else was probably destroyed when the home was razed.
“There were no flames, just smoke. You couldn’t breathe, it was just raining ash,” she said.
Barry said her children could still not comprehend that they had lost everything.
“But at least we’re alive,” she said.
Carolyn Foeken said she had to bolt from Cookenup to Busselton with her two grandsons.
“We don’t know if we’ve got a home or not,” she said.
Updated
Stories are starting to come through from people who stayed in Yarloop to defend their homes. It sounds terrifying.
Alex Govanovich told ABC AM:
It was crazy, like there’s one fireball after another. The wind was that frigging strong, it’s devastating. There’s bugger all left.
Joe Angi, a farmer in the Yarloop area, told the ABC’s Graeme Powell that the fire destroyed the town in seven minutes.
Here’s a few pictures, courtesy of the Bunbury Volunteer Bushfire Brigade, of conditions on the ground.
Pics from Bunbury Volunteer Bushfire Brigade show conditions authorities facing in Yarloop and Waroona @TenNewsPerth pic.twitter.com/cuWMcwroM2
— Beau Pearson (@BeauPearson) January 8, 2016
Smoke from the fire was visible more than 50km away on Thursday and ash was falling in Busselton, which is more than 120km away.
Here’s the satellite view:
#WaroonaFire as captured by the MODIS AQUA satellite at 13:52 WST 7 Jan. Red dots indicate fire hotspots #Waroona pic.twitter.com/Ojm5kUV8Kf
— Landgate (@Landgate) January 7, 2016
This is the latest map from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services incident management scheme. It began as two fires, both started by lightning strike, but they merged together.
Latest WA bushfire map, shows how far it's spread @abcnewsPerth @ABCNews24 pic.twitter.com/tSl0jBNNHr
— Jade Macmillan (@JadeMacmillan1) January 8, 2016
If you’re wondering where this fire is, here’s a map.
Emergency services have decided it’s too dangerous to evacuate the 150 people who remained in Yarloop overnight by road. They were going to leave in a road convoy at 10am local time - which is roughly now - but instead they’ll leave via helicopter.
Hope that the rain in that storm cell would help firefighters has dissipated as quickly as the rain itself. It’s now clear(ish) skies over Pinjarra, and a tree near the evacuation centre is proof that there is lightning in this storm.
This is where lightning just struck a tree next to the Pinjarra evac centre @9NewsPerth pic.twitter.com/J5zvZHMHnn
— Ben Hennessy (@ben_j_hennessy) January 8, 2016
Lightning just struck this tree, right next to the evacuation centre in Pinjarra. #WaroonaFire pic.twitter.com/O5tkAZkllW
— Daniel Donnelly (@danpatdon) January 8, 2016
Those strong winds forecast by the BoM appear to have kicked in. People at the evacuation centre in Pinjarra have reported a thunderstorm is passing overhead - not what you want to see, when your house has potentially been destroyed by a fire caused by a lightning strike.
This was the picture at Pinjarra a short time ago. Bit of rain, but it comes with a wind change.
A thunderstorm is now passing over Pinjarra and heading towards the fire zone. #WaroonaFire pic.twitter.com/N6WLDKXlM4
— Daniel Donnelly (@danpatdon) January 8, 2016
Neil Bennett, from BoM in Perth, said at this morning’s press conference that conditions were so severe on Thursday the fire generated its own sort of mini-thunderstorm. He warned that could happen again today.
Here’s Geof Parry’s report from the cockpit of the Seven News chopper. You can see the crumpled remains of buildings - there doesn’t appear to be much still standing.
Yarloop: 3 people unaccounted for. 95 homes destroyed by fire. https://t.co/eTkX17Bknu @geofparry7 #Yarloop https://t.co/BFTQUNdAfU
— 7 News Perth (@7NewsPerth) January 8, 2016
Parry says the historic Yarloop hotel is one of the buildings destroyed. May seem a small thing, in the face of all that destruction, but pubs are important, mainly because they’re usually one of the only bits of infrastructure to survive. The Dunalley Hotel survived the 2013 Tasmanian bushfires, defended by a ring of fire trucks while more than 100 people huddled inside. The Kinglake Hotel survived Black Saturday. It is a big thing, to lose the pub.
There is a little bit of confusion about how much of Yarloop was destroyed by the fire.
The emergency services minister, Joe Francis, said at this morning’s press conference that they had lost “one third of a township, one third of those houses”.
Here’s our story from that press conference, as well as a wrap of the fire activity overnight.
But Ron Sackville, who stayed to defend his house in Yarloop on Thursday night, told Fairfax Media there was “very little of Yarloop left”.
I look around 360 degrees and everything is burnt to a cinder. I think the post office is the only building left standing [in the main street]. The fire was horrendous.
Geof Parry, the veteran Channel 7 journalist who flew in a helicopter over the town this morning, reported that “three-quarters, probably more of the town is just crumpled on the ground now.”
Three missing, 95 homes destroyed in Yarloop
Firefighters are bracing for another difficult day in Western Australia as a bushfire that doubled in size to 50,000ha on Thursday continues to burn uncontrolled.
The small town of Yarloop, 125km south of Perth, was “catastrophically damaged,” according to emergency services commissioner Wayne Gregson, with 95 houses destroyed and three people unaccounted for.
The fire was large and fast enough on Thursday to generate its own localised weather patterns, and Neil Bennett from the Bureau of Meteorology in WA has warned that the 60km/h winds and 34C temperatures forecast for today could have the same effect.
Emergency warnings remain in place for Waroona, Harvey, Preston Beach and surrounds. If you are in or near that area, please stay safe. And, if you want to tell us what the fire looks like from where you are, get in touch with me @callapilla on Twitter.
Updated
