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At least four homes have been burnt down as large bushfires sweep Australia’s west, with thousands of residents told it is too late to leave their properties
Hot weather is predicted nationwide across the long weekend, including in Western Australia where several bushfires remain uncontrolled, including one that has burnt through 11,000 hectares.
Three properties were lost near Arthur River, about 200km southeast of Perth, while another property near Yellanup, 170km to the south, was also destroyed, ABC News reported on Saturday, with more properties under threat.
Emergency WA had told residents in Arthur River it was too late to evacuate and people should act immediately to survive, before that warning was downgraded to ‘watch and act’.
Authorities said 638 homes and businesses were without power after the fire affected supply.
An act immediately warning has been issued for Reef Beach, in Bremer Bay on the state’s south coast.
The fire, started by lightning on Friday morning, has burnt 800 hectares and is yet to be contained.
A 40,000-hectare bushfire in the state’s central region has been the subject of a number of watch-and-act warnings, although the alert was downgraded as conditions improved.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued extreme heatwave warnings for the Goldfields and the southern interior districts.
Severe heatwave warnings are also in place across much of southern and inland WA.
“Every state and territory over this long weekend is looking at least low intensity heatwave conditions … with the severe to extreme heatwave conditions this long weekend focused around the WA-NT border,” BOM senior meteorologist Dean Narramore told ABC TV.
“Probably (not) until mid next week will we see cooler conditions for much of the country.”
Narramore said it was possible the fire threat that was currently hitting WA would spread east early next week.
“There’s a number of fires (in WA) and they’ll be watching those in the coming days with heat and those gusty winds likely to continue there,” he said.
“Then that fire threat will start moving into parts of SA and Victoria, particularly on Monday, we’re likely to see extreme fire dangers, strong and gusty winds and temperatures in the low 40s.”
