‘Everyone did an amazing job’: More than 80 volunteers stop Wheatbelt fire burning homes and jumping river

It has been a sleepless few nights for much of the Wheatbelt farming community as volunteer firefighters came out in droves to battle a blaze which burnt more than 200ha on four properties near Lake Towerrinning. Thanks to their efforts, the communities of Moodiarrup and Duranillin are breathing easier, with no loss of livestock or major infrastructure. On Friday at about 2.50pm, a fire was sparked by power pole adjacent to the lake. Within 10 minutes, farmers and their workers were on the scene. Soon, more than 80 farmers and firefighters were battling the blaze, including the three West Arthur units, containing it in less than three hours despite the steep, rocky terrain and windy conditions. Fire control officer Graham Peirce — who runs the campground at the popular ski lake — said while it was pretty slow to start, the blaze escalated when it crossed into on oat crop. “It got into the hilliest part of the shire where there was quite a lot of long grass and trees,” he said. “It was very hard to fight — some of the areas were so steep you could hardly walk up them. “It’s different when it’s an open, flat paddock. “Luckily we pulled it up in some stubble before the (Arthur) river because if it had jumped it, we would’ve been in trouble.” Starting on a neighbouring farm, the fire burnt along the fence line to Mr Peirce’s property and on to two more neighbouring farms, jumping two roads in the process, with the Shire closing the Darkan South Road. While there was some crop loss and fences burnt, homes, livestock and major infrastructure were all saved. “There was a house in very close proximity to the fire so we were really worried about that and tried to close it down as quickly as possible,” Mr Peirce said. He praised the volunteers — about 60 of whom returned the next day to mop up — for their efforts in such “trying conditions”. “Everyone did an amazing job — they are so pivotal to our fire brigades and community,” Mr Peirce said. “The speed of mobilisation, professionalism of firefighters and assistance from the wider community was amazing. A huge thankyou to all.”