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Rural has been sending a steady stream of crews to help fight the Waroona-Harvey fire. Crews are currently being scheduled up to Tuesday night.

The first crew with Andy, Carlo, Matty and Mitch returned Friday night after spending the day protecting properties around the townsite of Cookernup, north of Harvey. They were part of a task force under Busso FOC Alan Guthrie which included crews from Busso, Sussex and Margs. Work included putting out running fires up to 3k from town. Wind changes during the day and a thunderstorm complicated life by changing the direction of the fire a number of times.

Saturday’s crew of Leisha, Stando, Steveo and Tony spent most of the day north west of Harvey protecting a saw mill and adjacent properties. The combination of burning piles of lumber and the weather made for very hot work. Under Stando’s leadership they were able to have a fire break created that should provide a western limit to that section of the fire. They also spent time chasing down grass fires. Steveo did a good job of avoiding getting bogged in the sandy soil, unlike our neighbours from the west! Their task force consisted mainly of crews from the Denmark area.

The Saturday night crew consisted of the two Mikes and Todd. Sunday morning Alan, Duncan, Douglas and Mark P left at 6am for a day’s work. Sunday night Adam and Andy (we ran out of A’s) are heading north.  Monday morning it is Bruce, Kev, Pete and Steveo-again..  (Pictures courtesy of Duncan, Matty and Tony)

The next Rural shift is leaving for the Waroona fire 6am Saturday. It consists of Leisha, Stando, Stevo and Tony.

Today’s crew has been operating in Cookernup, between Yarloop and Harvey. Incoming crews are being processed and deployed from an ICV Control Point on the oval at Brunswick Junction.

Saturday night a combined Dunsborough-Rural crew will depart.  The Rural members are Mike G. and Mike M. Other Rural crews are expected to be required Sunday and probably Monday.

As of Friday afternoon, according to DFES, over 58,000 hectares have been burnt and the fire has a perimeter of over 200km.

Rural is sending a crew to the Waroona fire Friday morning.

Andy, Carlo, Matty and Mitch are leaving by bus at 6 to replace the crew of the Dunsborough 4.4.

Anne will be joining the Community Liaison Group in Pinjarra Saturday.

The fire was first reported Wednesday morning and by Thursday afternoon it had burned over 21,000 hectares. Over 200 firefighters were at the fire Thursday along with 23 appliances. They were protecting properties along the southern boundary.

The captain is urging all members to be on standby in the event of a local fire in light of the extreme weather conditions.

There has been a total fire ban declared for the Busselton and South West for Friday.  Details of what  this means are found here.

Note:  Map © Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2015

The brigade got a callout at 5:40 Saturday morning for a fire in Quindalup, part of the Dunsborough fire district. By the time the 4.4 arrived, a little after 6, the Dunsborough Light Tankers and 4.4. had brought the fire under control. Andy, Carlo, Matty, Steveo and Tony spent the next hour blacking out.

The fire was along the edge of Quindalup Siding Road at the corner of Mewett,  under power poles. It had got into the paper bark trees and thick grass making it difficult to extinguish. Fortunately there was no wind.

This was the first fire for the brigade over the holiday season.

The brigade’s 4.4 spent 8 hours Monday helping contain and control a fire near Donnybrook that had started earlier in the day.

Andy, Carlo, Matty and Steveo left at 5pm, joined a convoy in Busselton and started work around 7pm. Initially the crew was tasked to try to contain the fire which was still spreading. This work included knocking high hot spots in the trees, thereby preventing its spread through “spotting”. Once the fire was contained they concentrated on mopping up along the fire perimeter. They were assisted by the Helitac helicopters which were able to work until dark.

The convoy left around midnight with the truck back at the shed by 1:30. Matty and Steveo were back at work Tuesday morning preparing the truck for its next outing.

According to DFES around 80 firefighters were at the 142 hectare fire. DFES describes the cause of the fire as “suspicious”.

The brigade supported neighbouring Fire and Rescue units Tuesday at a
Blythe Road fire.

The fire, in a Yallingup Siding wood workshop, was isolated and extinguished by Yallingup Coastal Fire and Rescue using breathing apparatus, supported by Dunsborough.

Carlo (welcome back!) Kevin, Mark and Tony were in the 1.4 while Kevin Mc did double duty (making up for lost time!) in the Light Tanker with Duncan and later driving the 4.4 with Andy. Fish was the incident controller, supported by David and Andy Wright from DFES FRS.