Wildfires

Wildfires - Australia

The historic Western Australian town of Yarloop has been wiped out by a bushfire that razed at least 95 homes, with another six towns under immediate threat as authorities warn the disaster is “far from over”.

Lightning sparked the blaze in a forest reserve south of Perth on Tuesday night, but by late Friday it had raged through 50,000 hectares, virtually cut off the WA capital from the state’s South-West, and left shattered homeowners sifting through the ashes.

Rubbing salt in the wounds were reports of youths on trail bikes looting and breaking into homes left abandoned by those who fled the flames, prompting Cookenup resident Janelle Ryan to say offenders should be “put into a pine box, covered in concrete and taken to the ocean”.

More than 400 firefighters continue to tackle the blaze head on, strength perimeter lines and protect homes and other infrastructure, with Acting WA Premier Kim Hames saying the latest blaze would have a “massive impact” on the state.

Temperatures in the mid-30s and increasing gusty northeast winds were fanning the fire late Friday as it burned within 6km of the town of Harvey and also threatened the farming and coastal communities of Waroona, Hamel, Cookenup, Preston Beach, Lake Clifton and Myalup.