FIRE CASE! Losses mount from west Australian bushfire

RESIDENTS in the bushfire-ravaged town of Yarloop in Western Australia’s South West, where 128 homes were lost and two people died, claim they were not told about the imminent danger until it was too late.

Aerial pictures from Australian broadcaster Channel 7 on Friday showed the extent of the damage, with many buildings reduced to rubble. “There is still another 10 or more weeks to go in what is predicted to be a hard bushfire season”, Gregson told Perth’s The Sunday Times.

Premier Barnett, visiting Yarloop residents at an evacuation centre, said the town would continue “but probably not a Yarloop of its previous size”.

Around 46,000 hectares or 465 square kilometers have been destroyed, including dozens of private residences, a mill, railway station and other public buildings.

Fire authorities have been forced to defend their actions after a “full-on war with mother nature” in Western Australia’s southwest that destroyed 143 structures and killed two people.

“It is still a cause for concern”, Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Wayne Gregson told reporters of the blaze.

He said it was like a “fire storm”, likening emergency services’ efforts to “putting out a bonfire with a glass of water”.

The town is being evacuated and emergency warnings remain in place for Waroona and other areas.

Three people reported missing have been found safe and well. Another two people perished in neighbouring South Australia state in the same month.

It’s believed they’re the bodies of two men in their 70s, who’ve been missing since fire swept through the town earlier this week.

The storm was understood to be heading towards the fire zone – a downpour of rain could ease conditions, but lightning strikes could also spark further fires.

Dry and hot conditions across Australia make rampaging wildfires – known locally as bushfires – a seasonal hazard.