It's that time of year again...

[Sankari]

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett has declared a fire that destroyed more than 37 homes at Toodyay, 80km north-east of Perth, a natural disaster.

Firefighters have worked through the night to control the raging blaze. Three firefighters and a woman from the town suffered minor injuries in the fire, which has burnt 3,000 hectares of bushland.

Mr Barnett travelled to Toodyay to see the damage firsthand and thanked emergency service workers for their efforts.

"There is no doubt they saved lives last night," he said. "If you saw the destruction, houses totally destroyed and people were got to safety by the emergency services."

Mr Barnett says state government agencies will help people who have lost their homes, and families in immediate need will receive $3,000.

[...]

The manager of the Moondyne Caravan Park, Beth Milbrey, says she was able to get the residents out of the park just before the fire swept through.

"Kevin, the owner of the park, rang and he's captain of the fire brigade and he just rang and he said 'Beth, get everybody off the park'," she said. "If he hadn't have rung we wouldn't have got off because I just started running to everybody from one end of the park to the other, which covers about 13 acres. I just don't know how I did it."​

(Source).

Toodyay was one of my favourite stops on the way up to Cadoux and Wongan Hills when I lived in Western Australia. It's a nice little country town with many heritage listed buildings.

 

[Sankari]

 

[Cosimo]

That’s bad.

Let’s hope that you don’t have a repetition of the fires earlier this year with that appalling devastation and loss of life.

 

[alex24]

Got relatives out there, last year they got within metres of their house but it was spared thankfully.

 

[platypus]

Here's hoping it's not as bad as last year.

 

[Gilly]

Christ.

How do they start? Is it stupid people not able to think about what they're doing, or do they just naturally occur due to heat and what is effectively hundreds of miles of kindling?

 

[thecremeegg]

Christ.

How do they start? Is it stupid people not able to think about what they're doing, or do they just naturally occur due to heat and what is effectively hundreds of miles of kindling?

Often as not they're started by vandals sadly

 

[britboy4321]

Christ.

How do they start? Is it stupid people not able to think about what they're doing, or do they just naturally occur due to heat and what is effectively hundreds of miles of kindling?

Vandals, accidents (people throwing cigerettes out of windows), or natural things like lightening.

 

[Sankari]

Christ.

How do they start? Is it stupid people not able to think about what they're doing, or do they just naturally occur due to heat and what is effectively hundreds of miles of kindling?

The big ones in summer this year (February-March) were a mixture; some caused by arsonists and sheer carelessness (cigarette butts, etc.) but most by fallen power lines.

These fires in Toodyay were caused exclusively by fallen power lines, which has embarrassing and potentially expensive ramifications for the state power provider:

Poles likely cause of WA blaze: power boss

Western Australian electricity provider Western Power has conceded its infrastructure may have set off a destructive bushfire.

WA police are confident powerlines sparked the fire that destroyed nearly 40 homes near Toodyay, 85 kilometres north-east of Perth. At least 37 homes have been destroyed in the fire which started yesterday afternoon and has so far scorched nearly 3,000 hectares of farm and bushland.

Western Power managing director Doug Aberle says an independent investigator will head to the scene on Saturday.

"If it's determined that it's caused by our negligence we will be paying compensation as appropriately determined as we always do," he said.

Mr Aberle offered his sympathy to families affected by the families.

Police investigators say while the investigation into the cause of the fire is continuing, they are confident it was sparked by fallen power lines. They say there were no other ignition sources in the area.​

I know it's a dark moment, but I did LOL at "Poles likely cause of WA blaze"...

3,000 hectares is 7,413 acres, btw. Thankfully a small bushfire by Australian standards.

Here's hoping it's not as bad as last year.

No chance of that! The Black Saturday fires destroyed 450,000 hectares (1,100,000 acres). This is a mere campfire by comparison. Most of it is under control now.

 

[V4NT0M]

I know it's a dark moment, but I did LOL at "Poles likely cause of WA blaze"...

That was my first thought too.

 

[Zip]

I hope Blackwood/Belair area doesnt get fires, It would go up in minutes. I go through there occasionally and you have people pretty much building in the bushland with trees going right upto there front doors

 

[Cosimo]

Christ.

How do they start? Is it stupid people not able to think about what they're doing, or do they just naturally occur due to heat and what is effectively hundreds of miles of kindling?

Causes of fires:

The four major natural causes of wildfire ignitions are lightning, volcanic eruption, sparks from rockfalls, and spontaneous combustion.[57] The thousands of coal seam fires that are burning around the world can also flare up and ignite nearby flammable material such as those in Centralia, Pennsylvania, Burning Mountain, Australia, and several coal-sustained fires in China.[58][59] However, many wildfires are attributed to human sources such as arson, discarded cigarettes, sparks from equipment,[60] and power line arcs (detected by arc mapping).[61] In societies experiencing shifting cultivation where land is cleared quickly and farmed until the soil loses fertility, slash and burn clearing is often considered the least expensive way to prepare land for future use.[62][63] Forested areas cleared by logging encourages the dominance of flammable grasses, and abandoned logging roads overgrown by vegetation may act as fire corridors. Annual grassland fires in Southern Vietnam can be attributed in part to the destruction of forested areas by herbicides, explosives, and mechanical land clearing and burning operations during the Vietnam War.[64]

An interesting read: Source

 

[Sankari]

I hope Blackwood/Belair area doesnt get fires, It would go up in minutes. I go through there occasionally and you have people pretty much building in the bushland with trees going right upto there front doors

Don't even think it. Please, just don't. I have friends in both areas and others nearby.

 

[Zip]

Christ.

How do they start? Is it stupid people not able to think about what they're doing, or do they just naturally occur due to heat and what is effectively hundreds of miles of kindling?

All sorts of reasons.

And Stupid people not thinking what they are doing, You get those.

But you even get those that know exactly what they are doing and create elaborate fire starting devices!

Don't even think it. Please, just don't. I have friends in both areas and others nearby.

Sorry

You can see why they live there, Its a very nice area.
Just is a big risk Zone along with lots of places in the hills, Soem of the new houses that have been built make me think WTF would you build there?
Especially down Sheoak road if you know it.

 

[Sankari]

Yeah I know the one. Of course, they've tightened up the building regs since most of those houses were built.