An out-of-control and fast-moving bushfire ravaging an area south of Perth has spread further, with one man who lost his business in the blaze saying the sky looked like an “atomic bomb has gone off”.
An emergency warning was in place for Waroona, Harvey and surrounding areas including Preston Beach in Western Australia’s Peel and south-west regions.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services warned that lives and homes were in danger. The fire was reported just before 7.30am on Wednesday and was caused by lightning. More than 11,000ha had been burned.
Drakesbrook Fine Wine owner Bernie Worthington lost his hillside vineyard, olive grove and orchard in Waroona – destroyed in the early hours of Thursday morning after his family escaped their under-threat home.
“It looks like a mushroom ash cloud in the sky, like an atomic bomb has gone off,” he said. “We found out from a neighbour at daylight that it’s all gone.
“It’s the end of the line now. We haven’t got the money or energy to start the business again.”
Authorities told Worthington it would be days before his family would be able to return to the property.
Melissa Young, who lives on a 90ha property about 12km out of Waroona, was forced to evacuate with her dog just before 11.30pm on Wednesday.
“I just jumped in the car and went,” she said. “I watched this amazing, ferocious thing. The speed was insane, it engulfed everything.”
The blaze started in Lane Poole Reserve and was burning on both sides of the South Western Highway, with several roads and recreation sites closed in the area.
The fire department said burning embers could be blown around homes.
An evacuation centre has been established at Murray Leisure Centre in Pinjarra but the one in Harvey had been closed.
Meanwhile, a watch-and-act alert remained for people in the area bounded by Johnston Road, Willowdale Road, Forrest Highway, Riverdale Road and Logue Brook Dam, and Clarke Road to Nanga Road in the shire of Waroona.
Western Power said more than 7,000 customers were without power, including people in Waroona, Dwellingup and Preston Beach, and crews were not able to access the area to assess any damage to the network.
“Affected customers are encouraged to make alternative plans on the basis that power will not be restored today,” the company said.
It warned that if the bushfire had damaged power poles and lines, some customers could be without power until the area was declared safe for the electricity network to be repaired.
The Bureau of Meteorology had forecast temperatures of 38C and gusty winds for Thursday evening.
“The possible development of thunderstorms in the area is another complicating factor, and there is a risk of lightning strikes which may cause new ignition points,” it said.
Waroona had a large bushfire sparked by lightning early last year too, and one home and several sheds, cars and equipment were destroyed in that blaze.
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