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The latest Yals Rural crew returned Thursday morning, leaving the truck in the capable hands of a Dunsborough crew.. Thanks go to David for bringing the crews together. Also thanks to Dunsborough’s Mal Ballard for his driving, hose and winder-fixing skills, although we won’t hold him responsbile for the long term life of the winder.

So far there have been five crews sent from the brigade and we’re looking forward to the return of the 4.4 which needs some TLC.

The crews have mainly been used in blacking out, putting out fires in already burnt areas. Wednesaday night’s crew had to deal with a number of huge Karri trees burning through their core.

The fire has burnt over 80,000 hectares of bushland and has a perimeter of more than 240km. There are over 200 firefighters on the scene at any one time. It is anticipated there will be ongoing regular Yallingup crew shifts going to the fire.

 

The fire now stretches from the edge of Windy Harbour to east of the South West Highway.

 

 

Another crew headed to Northcliffe Wednesday, replacing Mitch, Titch, Richard and Mark P and Bob S. They had gone down early Monday morning and have done two shifts blacking out south of the Northcliffe townsite. The second crew of Douglas, Carlo, Emma, Kev and Andy worked overnight.

The new crew of Bruce, Duncan, Noel and Tony S is joined with a guest appearance of Mal Ballard from Dunsborough behind the wheel. It is anticipated they will be bringing the 4.4 home for repairs Thursday morning.

FCO Dave is also heading down to Northcilffe.

The 12.2 with Steveo and Allan headed off to Northcliffe early Monday morning to provide valuable water to the firefighting crews. With town water trucked in, the need for water supplies is urgent.

Meanwhile a crew left Tuesday morning and arrived in Northcliffe in time for breakfast.  They were then positioned south of the town, which has been determined to be undefendable and is being evacuated. Tuesday’s crew consists of Mitch, Titch (called back to the flock) and Rich(ard). Along with Mark P and Bob S.

A third crew leaves by bus at 15:00 Tuesday with Douglas driving the 4.4 on arrival along with Andy (again!) Carlo, Kevin and Emma.

The 4.4 returned Monday morning from Northcliffe after spending Saturday firefighting in Waroona and driving down to Northcillfe Sunday morning. On arrival, after familiarizing themselves with the town they made themselves very popular with Pete cooking lunch and Andy serving the other brigades awaiting a briefing.  The best egg sandwiches in Northcliffe, and probably Waroona, as well!

They spent the afternoon talking to owners and checking out properties in the path of the fire to determine whether they could be protected. The evening was spent setting up lay-flats around a house that was determined to be defendable. Fortunately the wind didn’t change and the fire passed a few kilometres away. From their vantage point the crew could witness its massive size, stretching all along the skyline. Although kilometres away the roar of the fire was significant and flames shot over 50 meters into the air. Pictures give no indication of the size and intensity of the fire. None of the crew had seen anything like it.

The brigade’s 4.4 headed south to Northcliffe Sunday morning continuing its tour of the southwest.

Saturday the crew worked from just after midday until midnight blacking out down very steep rocky slopes and providing asset protection.

After a short night in Bunbury they headed south to assist with the Northcliffe/Manjimup fire.

Two of the crew, Andy and Bruce were with the team earlier in the week that went to Wanneroo for two days.

The 4.4 is off to Warooma Saturday morning joining a convoy in Busselton.

The crew is Chris, Pete, Andy, Bruce and Tony S.

Yallingup Rural joined 47 other brigades in helping to fight the fires around Perth this week.  The crew consisted of Alan, Andy, Bruce, Mitch and Steveo.  Alan reports:

The Lower South West Taskforce convoy  included the 4.4, our 12.2 crewed by Vasse, Dunsborough 3.4, Sussex 2.4, Walcliffe LT, and Vasse LT.   We met at Busselton bypass, and departed around 1400 Wednesday for the Pinjar pine plantation fire in Wanneroo.

En route we were diverted to the Serpentine fire near Karnet prison farm, but were then re-assigned to our original destination after stopping for further direction at Keysbrook, north of Pinjarra.

We arrived in the early evening at Barbagello raceway for a briefing, and then were assigned mopping up duties through the night in company with the rest of the LSW Taskforce vehicles.
The tracks were very sandy, in limestone country, and the 4.4 managed the conditions quite well, except for one moment right at the end of our shift when a considerable amount of digging, road making and some water dumping, plus a bit of a pull on a tow strap from a friendly passing Kalamunda LT got the 4.4 moving again.

During the night there was a good view of the electrical storms around Perth, and just a few teasing spots of rain. By about 0400 we were all tucked up in bed at the Vines resort.

On the way back home on Thursday the 4.4 crew saw what appeared to be a new fire east of the Forest Highway, and after checking in, headed over to investigate. The Coolup brigade were already on site, and the 4.4 assisted them in the early stages of the fire, then carried on for home by the time that the water bombers were on site.

We were happy to assist the Perth Brigades which have been under pressure for weeks, with a lot of tired volunteers needing relief, although on the way home down the Forest Highway we came as close to a lightning strike as any us wanted.

Note:  GWN News is carry a report on the LSW Convoy Friday night.