2016 Waroona-Yarloop bushfire
It started as a lightning strike that caused two fires in the Lane Poole Reserve state forest near Dwellingup, Western Australia on 5 January 2016 and then burnt close to Waroona and then through the historical town of Yarloop, destroying it, before continuing southwards towards the outskirts of the town of Harvey and westwards to Preston Beach.
[1] The Bureau of Meteorology data shows that there were lightning strikes in Lane Poole Reserve, a state forest of jarrah and marri, between 18:00 and 20:00 on Tuesday.
[3] Later it was reported that it had grown to an 8 ha (20 acres) scrub fire when a P&W spotter plane overflew the site.
[1] The first fire was then tackled but the effort was hampered by heavy fuel loads, poor access, steep terrain and mining leases.
[4] During the day, a Pyrocumulonimbus cloud formed over the fire area and could be seen from space as well as 118 km (73 mi) away in Perth, but only lasted an hour.
[9] By Thursday afternoon, damage received to this point was described as property, livestock and one home with 29,000 ha (72,000 acres) burnt.
[2] The Southbound Festival in Busselton was called off at 20:30pm by promoter David Chitty after consultation with emergency authorities when 15,000 people were expected to arrive in the region.
[10] Main Roads WA said it would attempt to build an alternative route around the bridge but the area would need accessing and a decision would take a week.
[2] Firefighters responded to fire reports south of Waroona and close to Hamel with 80 km/h (50 mph) winds and 3m high flames.
[5] These units attempted to protect Yarloop by constructing an earth break along existing a powerline servitude east of the town.
[5] The Harvey Shire Fire Controller asked for more units to be sent to Yarloop in the afternoon but his calls went unheeded and by 18:00 the units east of the town who were trying to build the earth firebreak retreated from the fire which has become dangerous and was now 1-2km away from the South Western Highway close to the town itself.
[4] As units arrived they attempted to fight the fires with minimal water and by 21:40 the town was fully ablaze.
[12] The curator of that museum, Geoff Fortune, estimated $12 million of damage to the old boilers and engineering machines as well as steam and diesel locomotives.
[12] Other historical buildings destroyed include the old mill boarding house, hotel, first post office and timber workers' cottages.
[4] Emergency areas now included Waroona, Harvey, Hamel, Cookernup, Yarloop, Myalup, Preston Beach and Lake Clifton.
[4] Temperatures were lower this day and wind changes on the southern boundary was of concern for communities in Cookernup, Harvey and Myalup.
[3] Evacuation of remaining residents in Yarloop to Pinjarra was planned for the early afternoon with buses brought in for those requiring them.
[5] Around 10.30am, WA Premier Colin Barnett visited the evacuation centre at Pinjarra and announced a contribution of $1million to the Lord Mayor's Disaster Relief Fund, while at the same time, the Perth Lord Mayor announced the opening of the relief fund.
[14] Early evening saw the WA Police announce that two bodies had been recovered from homes in Yarloop.
[14] Criticism of how DFES had managed the fire at the town of Yarloop now began to be reported on social media.
[11] Yarloop Volunteer Bushfire Brigade criticised DFES in a Facebook post saying DFES had not posted a fire warning for Yarloop until an hour after the blaze went through, a statement back by Harvey Shire chief bushfire control officer Phil Penny.
[11] DFES countered by saying that at 12:10 Thursday an emergency warning was issued for Waroona and Harvey and surrounding areas in those shires and 07.35pm specifically named towns of Wagerup, Yarloop and Cookernup.
[14] On Sunday 10 January, the Water Corporation was allowed into Yarloop and public tap stations were established but no other repair work can be performed.
[1] Music groups from the cancelled Southbound festival, Disclosure, Bloc Party and Birds of Tokyo played a bushfire benefit concert at the HBF Stadium, Mt Claremont with all proceeds from the attendance going to the bushfire appeal while VenuesWest, the venue owner, waived its hire fees.
[20]: 14 Wednesday saw the fire jump containment lines and a watch and act alert was issued again for residents around Waroona and Cookernup.
[21]: 6 Five truckloads of donate hay was delivered to the fire ravaged area so farmers could feed their livestock.
[25] He announced that Euan Ferguson, former Country Fire Authority boss in Victoria and South Australia would investigate the cause and effect of the fire which was promised to take two to three months while the recovery and reconstruction effort would be managed by Main Roads Commissioner Ken Michael.
[25] On 20 June 2016, Euan Ferguson briefed the WA Cabinet about his two-volume report into the Waroona-Yarloop fire.
[26] The report was to be released in Harvey on 23 June 2016, was described as contentious and frank by Premier Barnett saying it while it wasn't judgmental it did constructive long-term recommendations.
[26] The report stated that the fire started as a lightning strike in Lane Poole Reserve National Park.
