At least ten houses have completely burned down in a severe forest fire in the northern suburbs of the Australian metropolis of Perth. Hundreds of people are without power after numerous transmission lines were damaged by the flames, 9News reported on Thursday, citing emergency services. The fire had already destroyed 1,500 hectares of land by early afternoon (local time).
Large parts of the state of Western Australia are currently experiencing a very unusual heat wave with record temperatures, especially around Perth. Temperatures of up to 40 degrees were expected in the city on Thursday. The values are currently 12 to 14 degrees above normal, as the weather office announced. It’s still spring in Australia.
Air tankers dispatched from the East Coast
“It could take some time to bring the fire under control,” said Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson. Not only the heat, but also strong winds made the work difficult. More than 150 firefighters were on duty. An air tanker from the state of New South Wales was sent to the west coast to support the firefighting work.
Authorities had already warned weeks ago that the Australian spring and summer could be the most violent bushfire season since the devastating “Black Summer” of 2019-2020. At that time, weeks of bushfires devastated more than twelve million hectares of land, and countless animals died or were displaced.
