RESIDENTS in one of Western Australia’s worst-hit bushfire regions have been told they are in immediate danger after fire warnings were reduced following a nightmare week.
A bushfire emergency warning has been issued for people in Merivale in Esperance, with people told there was an immediate threat to their lives and homes.
“You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive,” the warning, issued at 12.44pm EST, 9.44am local time, read.
The alert level for the Merivale fire was upgraded as the fire broke containment lines on its western side.
The threat follows a hellish week of bushfire disaster in the Esperance area that saw four lives lost.
The emergency warnings are a stark turnaround from messages from WA’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services this morning where residents were told the three major bushfires in Western Australia’s south no longer posed a threat to lives and home.
“Although there is no immediate danger you need to be aware and keep up to date in case the situation changes,” WA’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services said in a statement.
More than 200 firefighters and 100 pastoralists have been fighting fires across the Shire of Esperance, with advice alerts also in place for Salmon Gums and Grass Patch to the north of the coastal town and the Thomas River-Poison Creek area of Cape Arid National Park to the east.
There is also a severe fire warning for parts of the Pilbara, the Goldfields Midlands and Midwest Gascoyne with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting hot, dry and windy conditions.
The Salmon Gums and Grass Patch fire left four people dead, including local farmer Kym Curnow, who was hailed as a hero for saving several people from driving into the inferno before becoming trapped himself.
Norwegian national Anna Sashohova Winther, 29, British man Thomas Leslie Butcher, 31, and German woman Julia Kohrs-Lichte, 19, also died trying to outrun the fire.
An increased fire risk has been forecast for Queensland where a scorching weekend heatwave has hit the southern half of the state.
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a top of 35C for Brisbane on Saturday, while Ipswich is tipped to hit 39C, Windorah 43C and Goondiwindi 42C — up to 10C above average.
On the Gold Coast, emergency crews are battling a fast moving “wildfire with several fire fronts” that has caused Sea World and surrounding resorts to be fully evacuated.
The grass fire broke out in bushland just before 11am today, and waterbombing has begun as part of efforts to control the blaze, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports.
In NSW, fire warnings have been reduced with the state welcoming a cool change following Friday’s 41 degree heatwave.
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