Firefighters have battled through the night to stop a massive fire front from devastating another Perth hills community, dropping close to a dozen loads of fire retardant onto the blaze that threatened Shady Hills estate.
No more homes were lost overnight, but the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) say this could change after crews inspect fire sites today.
The bushfire, which started in Wooroloo on Monday, has a perimeter of 126 kilometres and is still classified as out of control, and moving in a northwesterly direction.
Sixty-nine suburbs were placed on alert yesterday – including 16 in immediate danger – from areas in the Perth Hills to Yanchep on the coast and suburbs such as Balga and Alexander Heights, less than 10km from Perth’s CBD.
Anybody remaining in the Avon Ridge and Joshua Mews areas was last night warned it was now too late to leave.
Hundreds of residents in the Shady Hills estate and East Bullsbrook area were told to evacuate immediately if they were not prepared to fight the fire.
Speaking from the DFES Incident Control Centre set up at the Mundaring Arena yesterday, Premier Mark McGowan described the situation as “unprecedented and extremely dangerous”.
“We’re facing disasters on two fronts – the devastating bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr McGowan said.
“It will test us all – the fire has devastated our community.”
