Wheatbelt bushfire and storm leaves more than 23,000 homes without power as Perth braces for 40C heatwave

More than 23,000 homes have been without power in the Mid West and two bushfires are threatening lives and homes as the State reaches temperatures of 40C today.

A derelict home has been lost to an out of control bushfire near Lower Chittering with residents urged to “act immediately to survive” as firefighters prepare for hot and windy conditions on Sunday afternoon.

The blaze, which sparked around 10pm on Saturday night, is bounded by Julimar Rd, Plunkett Rd, Beach Rd and Chittering Rd — about 70km north of Perth.

The bushfire was at an emergency level overnight and throughout Sunday morning but was downgraded to a watch and act level just before 2pm.

Those in Julimar Road, Plunkett Road, Beach Road and Jenjoda Road in parts of Julimar, Moondyne, Chittering, and Lower Chittering have still been told its “not safe to return”.

About 405 hectares have already been destroyed by the fire with Department of Fire and Emergency incident controller Murray McBride saying he expected that to grow.

“There is going to be some nasty weather come through so we expect wind gusts up to 75 kilometres an hour, so it’s warm and windy,” he said on Sunday morning.

“The fire has broken containment lines and if it breaks more containment lines it will push into national park, and that’s heavily forested, so it will hard to get under control once it’s in there.

“There is a lot of unexploded ordinance in there so we won’t be able to chase the fire, it will be air resources that will do that for us.”

He said crews were working to halt spot fires and put in containment lines in a bid to stop the blaze from spreading into the national park.

“We’ve lost one derelict house and that’s it,” he said.

“The crew has done a great job saving other stuff, but we’ve got a big afternoon ahead of us, and there are plenty of properties that we will need to save.”

There are 33 firefighting appliances on the ground with about 100 personnel actively fighting the bushfire.

A watch and act warning is also in place for parts of Lower Chittering and Moondyne between Chittering Road, Julimar Road, Jenjoda Road, Plunkett Road, and Chittering Valley Road.

Residents were warned to watch out for burning embers, which are likely to be blown around homes and could spark a fire.

A section of the bushfire is moving in a southerly direction and is not contained or controlled.

Power supply has been cut to around 85 homes and businesses in Julimar and Moondyne.

A bushfire also sparked in Eneabba around 6am, quickly reaching an emergency level.

The warning is in place for people in the area bounded by Eneabba-Coolimba Road, Brand Highway, Coorow-Green Head Road and Cockleshell Gully Road in parts of Eneabba and Warradarge.

As of 2pm, the bushfire is moving fast in a south westerly direction but a sea breeze is expected to shift the blaze in an easterly direction this afternoon.

The blaze is not under control or contained.

Severe thunderstorms overnight have also left 22125 people without electricity in Geraldton and surrounds with Western Power estimating power won’t be restored to all of the homes until 4pm on Sunday.

Outages are also impacting much of the Mid West including Dongara, Port Denison, Kalbarri, Pindar, and Three Springs.

A Western Power spokesperson said the outage was a result of a severe thunderstorm overnight that impacted two transmission lines.

“We’ve deployed crews and a helicopter patrol is undertaking technical inspections to determine the cause of the outage. Once identified we’ll work swiftly and safely to repair the fault,” the spokesperson said.

“We’ve deployed emergency response generators to power essential infrastructure in the region, these are expected to arrive and be connected by late afternoon.”

The blaze and power blackouts come as the Bureau of Meteorology warns Perth could see a top of 40C today with temperatures already over 30C by 9am.

There is also a severe heatwave warning in place for the Lower West, South West, South Coastal, and Great Southern areas of the State.

“Seek a place to keep cool, such as your home, a library, community centre or shopping centre,” BOM advised.

“Close your windows and draw blinds, curtains or awnings early in the day to keep the heat out of your home. If available, use fans or air-conditioners to keep cool.”