Bushfire in Perth suburbs destroys at least one house as firefighters say danger not over
At least one house has been lost and other buildings destroyed as firefighters continue to battle a bushfire threatening lives and homes in Perth’s southern suburbs.
On Sunday afternoon incident controller Peter Sutton said while the blaze was now contained the situation remained critical, with significant concerns over fire activity on the southern flank.
An emergency warning was reduced on Sunday to a watch and act message but Sutton said the danger was not yet over, with the blaze still burning amid hot and windy conditions.
“We will be testing the containment lines on this fire. This still is quite a precarious situation,” he said. “The behaviour of the fire could change quite dramatically.”
The blaze has burnt through about 300 hectares since starting in the Modong Nature Reserve on Saturday morning.
The cause was yet to be determined but authorities were “leaning towards suspicious”.
About 150 firefighters remained on the scene with more crews and waterbombing aircraft on standby.
Sutton said a number of buildings had been damaged including at least one house.
He said it was believed that was a derelict property, but checks were continuing with rapid damage assessment teams already on the scene.
The Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, praised the efforts of firefighters and urged the public to give the area a wide berth.
“Can I just urge everyone across the community to listen to the advice and I also urge people not to go and have a look,” he said.
“That is disruptive and it puts you in danger, so please don’t go and stickybeak.”
The fire closed a number of roads in the shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale and the City of Kwinana, including the Kwinana Freeway between Mortimer and Rowley roads.
Western Power said electricity supplies had also been cut to some customers, with more than 200 properties currently without power.
Hot weather was forecast to continue across the region, with Perth expected to have tops in the mid to high 30s until at least Friday.