Firefighters control Bullsbrook bushfire, warning downgraded to watch and act

Updated

A bushfire in the northern Perth suburb of Bullsbrook has been downgraded to a watch and act after firefighters controlled the blaze.

The fire was upgraded to an emergency warning on Sunday, after a wind change drove the blaze north-east, but at 9:00pm (AWST) the Department of Fire and Emergency (DFES) advised the fire was contained and stationary.

"Firefighters have been working very, very hard over night, strengthening containment lines - they've actually widened them considerably," Mr Allen Gale, spokesman for WA's DFES said.

"That'll reduce the risk of fire hopping over into another area, particularly an area where there's unburnt fuel."

However, the fire is still not contained and remains a possible threat to lives and homes, the DFES said.

Firefighters are expecting the wind to shift from south-westerly to easterly overnight, which means the fire may be moving in a westerly direction by morning.

Mr Gale confirmed it could be days before the fire is blacked out completely.

So far the fire has burnt 6,600 hectares of land and damaged two derelict homes and five sheds.

On Sunday afternoon there was a risk the northern flank could become the new head of the fire and push north into suburbs including Chittering and Muchea, the Department of Fire and Emergency (DFES) said.

The western head of the fire was stopped from crossing Wanneroo Road, but deputy incident controller Ross Delaney said the south-westerly wind change could have turned the fire's northern flank into a long, new head fire.

"If the wind change comes in it could go as far north as Muchea and any other properties or townships in that area," he said.

The blaze in the semi-rural suburb was reported on Saturday morning and is 44 kilometres long and 18 kilometres wide.

A community information meeting held in Quinns Rocks was attended by about 200 residents.

Residents were warned it was unclear when Wanneroo Road, a main arterial road, would be reopened.

DFES said two people were injured in the blaze, with a firefighter suffering burns on the back of his neck and a police officer being treated for smoke inhalation.

Mr Delaney said within the fire zone was unexploded ordnance at a RAAF bombing range, but he downplayed the risk, saying the fire had already burnt up to existing fire breaks.

Police Superintendant Allan Adam told residents police did not believe the fire was deliberately lit. However, he would not comment on what caused the fire, citing operational reasons.

Evacuated Bullsbrook resident Todd Adkins said the fire was upon them without warning.

"It really snuck up on us and just really caught us off guard, and it was really hard to get out," he said.

"We'd all obviously seen it but it just went a lot faster than I thought it would.

"You couldn't see, you couldn't breathe, and to try and drive out, we had to drive through fire and everything. It was bad."

Topics: bushfire, fires, disasters-and-accidents, bullsbrook-6084, wa, australia

First posted