Wildfires destroy homes in Western Australia
Wildfires in Western Australia have left hundreds of people homeless. One firefighter has been injured and several people treated for smoke inhalation.
A wildfire that tore across the outskirts of the West Australian capital of Perth over the weekend has destroyed at least 41 homes and damaged another 19.
One firefighter was injured and several people were treated for smoke inhalation.
The wildfires come as parts of Queensland and Victoria continue to clean up after being hit by serious flooding.
In Western Australia on Sunday, residents of Roleystone and the nearby community of Kelmscott, southeast of Perth, were told to evacuate from the path of a fire that suddenly flared after noon (0400 GMT).
Further north, in the Swan Valley district, about 100 people were told to evacuate their homes as authorities tried to contain another blaze, which started on Saturday night.
The two blazes have razed 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) of forested land to the north and southeast of Perth since Saturday, authorities said.
A firefighter who was injured fighting that blaze, which erupted shortly before noon Sunday, was in stable condition at a hospital.
The authority has not released details of how that female firefighter was hurt.
Several residents took themselves to hospitals after suffering minor smoke inhalation.
Residents who were evacuated from the path of the blaze on Sunday have not yet been allowed to return to their homes due to the continuing fire danger.
Prime Minister’s ‘sympathy’
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard expressed her sympathy for Australians across the nation suffering through various natural disasters.
The states of Victoria and Queensland have witnessed devastating floods and cyclones while Western Australia suffered bushfires.
“Whilst Victoria battles floodwaters, over in the west, people are battling bushfires and we’ve seen the loss of homes,” she said.
“People have been through the devastation of knowing that all of their possessions are gone, many of them not able to take things with them that are precious to them and which are now lost.
“So there is pressure on today in Western Australia, pressure for those who know their homes are gone and pressure for those who are still battling these bushfires,” Gillard said before announcing rebuilding measures the federal government was set to take for those states affected by natural disasters during the summer.
One resident, Bob, was determined to find his father’s war medals. “I am rummaging through looking for my father’s and my grandfather’s medals, because I don’t give a stuff about the house, there is a lot of memories in it but my pride and joy with my father’s medals, he got killed in the Second World War.
“I just wanted to pass it onto my kids and their kids and keep them and tragically…I haven’t given up yet I am going back there with a shovel and rake and I am going to try find them but I think they are probably quiet soft metal and they probably would have melted, I don’t know,” he said.
Fires were still burning out of control and emergency warnings remained in place for several more Perth suburbs.
The Western Australian bushfires came almost two years after the Black Saturday fires which ravaged the state of Victoria, killing 173 people.