Arson police are investigating a third fire in less than a week, with dry, windy conditions in Waroona causing an emergency blaze to keep homes under threat on Sunday.
As firefighters admitted the blaze could take up to a week to suppress, homeowners nervously awaited the analysis of DFES officials scouring the fire-front for news of whether their homes had survived.
With two outbuildings already confirmed lost, incident controller Sven Andersen said the fire, which had burned through almost 2500 hectares by Sunday afternoon, was unlikely to be brought under control overnight.
More than 150 firefighters, six water bombers and four helitanks were tackling the fire, which started on Saturday in an area of state forest west of Nanga Townsite.
On Sunday, an extended emergency warning was still in place for people bounded by Pinjarra Williams Road to the east and South Western Highway to the west, including Meelon townsite and Marrarup Nature Reserve and for people west of Nanga Road in southern parts of Lane Poole Reserve, west of the Nanga Townsite.
Mr Andersen said a combination of conditions and difficult terrain meant the fire was still moving uncontained in a northwesterly direction.
“It’s hilly, rocky country. If it does come down to the flatter, grassy area, it will be easier (to fight), but the fire will run faster,” he said.
Asked about the prevalence of emergency bushfires this late in the season, Mr Andersen said dry conditions had contributed to the escalating blazes.
“It’s a sign of times, I think,” he said.
“It’s very dry. So I urge people to be very careful when they’re out and about because this is not your normal autumn.
“We don’t need people out there making life tough for everybody and concerning the community.”
At a community meeting in Pinjarra on Sunday afternoon, deputy incident controller Shawn Debono said that firefighters could spend the next week or more “suppressing” and mopping up the dangerous fire.
“Our suppression and mop-up efforts will definitely continue for at least the next week,” he said.
“In regards to containment, I can’t make a comment as to when it will be contained or controlled at this stage.
“(But) the mop-up efforts will go on for at least the next week or two.”
Mr Debono said the fire had jumped the Murray River on Sunday and was now heading north.
“The fire is not controlled or not contained, and we are currently dealing with very difficult suppression efforts, particularly given the very rugged terrain,” he said, adding that properties had unfortunately been impacted by the blaze.
“We’ve got urban search and rescue teams and rapid assessment teams out in the field currently,” he said.
Firefighters had managed to save the home of celebrated bushfire scientist Kingsley Dixon, with minister Amber-Jade Sanderson confirming his Cypress Farm and Gardens home had been protected.
Professor Dixon told the Sunday Times he feared he had lost everything as he left his property on Saturday afternoon.
“There’s a little something left,” he told 7NEWS.
“But then we watched our tea house burn and we would have lost most of the other four other houses.
“So they’ve all gone — it’s pretty, pretty devastating.”
Describing the fire front as like a “volcano”, Professor Dixon tearfully recounted seeing the blaze, saying “nothing could stop it”.
“The firies arrived, so we took them to a high vantage point because we’ve got the closest access to the fire, and the fire had already jumped into our property,” he said.
“We hightailed back down, and I thought it was the east wind coming, and it wasn’t. It was this volcano, and it was just lava.
“We tried so hard to put them out. We just couldn’t.”
Professor Dixon said he would look to completely rebuild his property. “I’m totally inspired. I’m going to go and look at some plant lists, and I know all of the gardeners of Australia will join us,” he said.
Among those at the community meeting on Sunday were Craig Hartshorn and Tracey Johnstone.
They were forced to flee their Waroona home on Saturday as burning embers fell on their front lawn.
“We were out of town yesterday morning and we got a phone call from Craig’s manager to say there was a fire near our house,” Ms Johnstone said.
“We started to head home, then we got another phone call to say there were embers dropping all over the lawn.
“So we started packing … while we were packing, there were helicopters getting water out of our dam.
“It was horrible, and it was just so scary.
“It’s a fire I’ve never seen before; I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Mr Hartshorn said he and Tracey had hoped to start a new life in WA after moving from interstate only a few months ago.
“We only recently moved here from Victoria to start a new life,” Mr Hartshorn said.
“We don’t know whether all our stuff is gone.
“We didn’t get much sleep last night.”
The fire is now being investigated by the arson squad, the third in a week. The blaze is being treated as suspicious after the squad launched investigations into bushfires in Bedfordale and Maddington.