An unusual dawn this morning. The sky was Trump orange instead of the usual blue and it was snowing. You could smell smoke and that’s when the realisation hit; we had a bushfire nearby. The snow was of course ash.
Jan turned on the TV to watch the local news. Driven by hot, dry and strong winds, the bushfire at Wooroloo some 60km east of us has advanced to the west overnight. The fire doubled in size and now has a 60km front. It’s currently uncontrolled and uncontained. The State Emergency Services website showed its path.
We are located at the tip of the red arrow with the Whiteman Park nature reserve between us and the fire front.
Already people in 17 districts have received emergency warnings and many have evacuated their homes. Others have left it too late to leave and will now have to “stay and defend”. At this time our suburb isn’t subject to any “Watch & Act” instructions, however Jan has already packed our “Go Bag” and made a list of essential items and documents should we need to leave. The weather forecast is for the wind to change this afternoon, potentially driving the fire in our direction.
This morning the fire conditions must have been affecting the flight path to Perth airport as the arriving and departing aircraft were flying directly overhead.
The latest news is 30-40 homes have been lost to the fire and there are approximately 400 evacuees at the designated evacuation centre located just south of the fire front.
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