A bushfire that is raging out of control has cut off towns as it burns along a 50km front with fears the blaze will continue into the weekend.
The massive wildfire has been burning for four days after it was sparked by a fatal car crash on Monday, cutting off several towns in Western Australia and leaving residents trapped as evacuation points went up in flames.
More than 200 firefighters have been mobilised to fight the blaze, working hard for the past four days to fight the fire around Cervantes, north of Perth, in difficult conditions.
“The situation is still very challenging,” said WA Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm. “The 50km long western flank of the fire will continue to challenge crews today with forecast strong easterly winds, which will test these containment lines.
“We are expecting difficult conditions to continue overnight and into tomorrow.” Thunderstorms are forecast for Friday but there is little chance they will bring salvation from the inferno – instead of rain the storms are more likely to bring lightning and the risk of sparking additional fires.
“Key advice for people in Wedge and Grey is to take shelter and for if you’re in Cervantes, it’s too late to leave,” Mr Klemm said. “We don’t want people trying to leave by road.”
Speaking at a press conference the commissioner told reporters that a number of residents had already left Cervantes while he knew of people at Grey and Wedge Island who had chosen to stay.
He said Fire and Emergency Services officers had a plan to evacuate residents safely from the beach using boats. Two volunteer firefighters were injured at Wedge on Wednesday with one volunteer sustaining non-life threatening burns who was flown to Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, news.au reported.
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“He is recovering and was released from hospital (on Thursday)” Commissioner Klemm said. “Two volunteer firefighters also had a lucky escape on Thursday when a power line came down on top of their fire appliance. They were temporarily trapped in the vehicle until it could be safely removed and were not injured.”
There have so far been no reports of deaths or property lost in the fire. Residents in the affected areas have been told their lives and homes were under threat and authorities have urged them to shelter on the beach if their homes were at risk of being engulfed.
“You must shelter before the fire arrives, as the extreme heat will kill you before the flames reach you,” residents were warned.
Firefighters were actively fighting the fire and working with machinery to build containment lines around the Cervantes townsite, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said in a statement.
“Backburning has recommenced this morning to consolidate containment lines,” a spokesperson said.
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