With spring nearly sprung and the mercury starting to rise, the threat of bushfires becomes all the more real for all who live or travel in blaze-prone areas.
The reality of the risk was graphically illustrated last week when more than 100 people at camping sites north of Broome had to be evacuated due to a fire threat. Several bushfires had been burning in the vicinity for a couple of weeks, blackening more than 100,000 hectares of the Dampier Peninsula, and the situation became just too dangerous for them to stay.
Among the tourists and locals evacuated for their were about a dozen protesters permanently camped on Manari Road to argue against the proposed gas hub at James Price Point.
Kimberley FESA regional director Rob Cox has dismissed claims the blaze was deliberately lit, believing the seven fires which started on the Peninsula in the past three weeks were due to human inattention.
“It is too late in the season for any prescribed burning and the Shire would not issue any permits to burn,” he told the West Australian newspaper. “There is not enough temperature to cause ignition in the bush and no lightning strikes or electrical storms, therefore the fires have either started by accident or … through people having campfires that aren’t extinguished in the morning.”
Other smaller fires included those around Aboriginal communities including Beagle Bay, Djarindjin-Lombadina, Ardyloon and Koolymon at Cape Leveque.
Clearly, the suggestion that campfires may have been involved in sparking of some of these fires is a reminder to us all of the responsibility we have to be careful and to respect all regulations relating to fire safety. And, as we head out into remote areas, we should all ensure that we have an effective bushfire plan and that we remain eternally vigilant.
