West River bushfire: Crews working overtime to bring serious blaze under control after more than 4000h burnt

A fire that has razed more than 4000ha of land in West River and claimed the life of a respected local councillor, is not under control as firefighters on the ground work hard to save homes and farming land. The blaze tragically claimed the life of Shire of Ravensthorpe deputy president and local farmer Mark Mudie on Monday. Mr Mudie was operating a front-end loader at the time, trying to establish a firebreak to save his family farm. His machinery became engulfed by flames and he tragically died at the scene. WA Police said an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death would be conducted, and a report would be prepared for the coroner. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Department of Fire and Emergency Services incident control officer and Esperance district officer Stephen Petersen said the main area of concern was at the south-eastern edge of the fire ground. Water bombers have been used to to fight the blaze, which late on Tuesday was moving slowing in a north-easterly direction. “So currently, we’ve got crews consolidated in the south eastern corner of the fire,” Mr Petersen said. “There’s a small area of bush land down there that’s proving a little bit difficult to extinguish at this point in time. “Crews on the ground are getting a lot of assistance from water bombers, trying to slow down the head fire, and it’s expected that it will come out of this bush land at some point in time and hit the farmland, and we’re hoping that gives firefighters an opportunity to start tracking the edge of the fire.” Late on Tuesday a bushfire watch and act alert remains in place for people bounded by South Coast Highway, Lake Road, Mallee Road, Fitzgerald Road and Koornong Road in West River and West Fitzgerald. Ravensthorpe’s main street was overrun by firefighting trucks and personnel on Tuesday, with the incident control centre set up in the Shire buildings on Morgans Street. At the same time, crews were still hard at work on the fire front, about 30km from the town centre, actively fighting the blaze and strengthening containment lines. The cause of the fire remained under investigation on Tuesday, but was not being treated as suspicious. Mr Petersen said as of Tuesday morning, there were more than 60 firefighters on the ground, which include both career and volunteer crews from Albany, Esperance, Jerramungup, and Ravensthorpe. The Emergency WA website had updated that number to 85 by late on Tuesday afternoon. The fire crews are also assisted by many farmers who have chosen to stay and defend their land. Mr Petersen said an evacuation centre had been set up in Ravensthorpe, but as of Tuesday afternoon nobody had presented either to the shire office or the evacuation centre for help. Along West River Road, where the fire front passed through on Monday, crews remained on scene, working to clear burnt bush, and replace downed power poles. Western Power said up to 30 homes and businesses in the area were still without power, with at least 13 power poles damaged and requiring replacement. A harvest and vehicle movement ban is in place for the Shire of Ravensthorpe.