Community wait anxiously for Donnybrook fire updates at community meeting

A bushfire that destroyed one home and damaged three others near Donnybrook has left more than 200 people without power and firefighters are preparing for a late afternoon wind change that threatens to help the blaze break containment lines for a second time. More than 150 people waited anxiously at the Donnybrook Recreation Centre for an update on the state of the South West bushfires that have ravaged roughly 5800ha of land east of Donnybrook and left two individuals with minor burns. It has been over a week since residents have felt safe — lulled into a false sense of security on Friday when returning home was an option — with many deeply affected by the change of bushfire conditions that arose Saturday afternoon and unsure of their options. Two bushfires have burned through the area since Monday, ignited by the more than 300,000 lighting strikes during thunderstorms that day. The biggest — near Noggerup and Mumballup — sparked another emergency warning on Saturday at 2pm when a surge fanned by south easterly winds broke containment lines into private property, burning an additional 1000ha north of Donnybrook-Boyup Brook Road and east of Collie-Preston Road. Ground crews — who had remained in the area to mop-up and strengthen containment lines — acted quickly to contain the outbreak however, it escaped over the northern boundary of private property. They were shortly joined by air resources from Busselton, Bunbury and Manjimup to assist, including a fixed-wing aircraft and helitax, and then large air tankers later in the day. About 200 people are currently without power and it is unknown the extent of damage to property and effect on livestock. Warnings have returned to a Watch and Act level however, concerns now turn to the change in weather conditions this afternoon where strong winds are forecast from 4pm. Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions incident controller Brad Barton said the area under Watch and Act has had heat on it all day which is of concern, however, weather conditions overnight should mitigate risk. “We’re hoping that we get through that period of time and we’re certainly hoping to contain that fire on the northern and eastern boundaries,” he said. “Overnight we had over 200 firefighters onboard that have contained that fire and managed to get it tracked overnight and we’ve got 113 firefighters out there today that are mopping up and strengthening those containment lines.” Mr Barton said the fire surge on Saturday was unexpected but a number of resources were still on site from the original fire mopping up and strengthening containment lines. “A very strong south-easterly surge hit that northern boundary and it escaped over the northern boundary of private property,” he said. “(It was) a very steep, fast-moving fire — a very strong south-easterly and we were not able to contain it. “From my recollection they (the winds) were somewhere up to 40/50km per hour and some gusts. Very steep terrain through that Preston River Valley (area). “We had resources on site at the time but they were unable to contain it at that time and then we mobilised air resources from Busselton, Bunbury and Manjimup to assist, both fixed wing and helitax and then the lats later in the day.” Residents are concerned emergency warnings should not have been reduced to Watch and Act on Friday afternoon however, Mr Barton said warnings were changed at “an appropriate time”. “So you got through a range of circumstances with fires,” he said. “The fire was contained and controlled at that time, we had good mop up in place, the weather conditions that were forecast, we had resources on side but unfortunately we had a hop out that we couldn’t contain and we again ramped up our emergency warning. “So the advice, we do downscale when we get an opportunity when the fire is safe and I think we did that at an appropriate time and still had resources on site but these things happen sometimes in weather events.” Access permits are being distributed to some residents located within the marked fire areas at Donnybrook SES on 80 Bentley Street. “Other properties we’re working very hard today with Western Power, Main Roads and our crews are trying to make areas safe for people to go back in there. “I can’t put a time on that at this point in time,” he said, “Until it is safe for them to go back in, we can’t really make that decision, the fire is too unsafe at this point.” Donnybrook Police Sergeant Andrew Hull said there had been one looting incident however, which involved a motorcycle being taken from the back of a farm ute. However, it is understood the motorcycle was used to fight the fires and police are confident they would be able to find and return the vehicle.