A bushfire that has destroyed at least one home in the Western Australian city of Geraldton is being treated as suspicious by authorities. The fire, which has been burning for more than 24 hours, threatened hundreds of homes in the city's northern suburbs before being downgraded to an 'advice' level on Monday evening.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services Superintendent Mark Bowen confirmed one residence was lost due to ember attack, along with a small outbuilding. 'All initial indicators are that it was a suspicious fire,' he said, though investigations are ongoing.
Firefighters faced extremely challenging conditions, with temperatures reaching 42 degrees Celsius and easterly winds gusting up to 80 kilometers per hour. An additional 60 firefighters were deployed from Perth to relieve local crews who had been battling multiple blazes.
Incident controller Brent Allen said firefighters gained a better handle on the fire by Monday afternoon, but a wind change tested containment lines. A second home was nearly destroyed when fire entered its roof space, but crews managed to extinguish it. Drones flown by members of the public briefly disrupted firefighting efforts, forcing all aircraft to be grounded.
Residents in Waggrakine were advised they could return home Monday night if conditions did not worsen. Power was expected to be restored by 8pm. Local resident Ross Reynolds described patrolling his property with a hose amid low water pressure, while Mitchell French narrowly avoided losing his home as flames came within meters of his property.
