THE fire that is thought to have sparked the 2019 Yanchep bushfire happened when a tree fell on a powerline starting a small scrub fire directly beneath the line and disrupting power.
Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) said the Yanchep bushfire was first reported to them at 7.23am on December 11 with all running fire extinguished and the fireground on the eastern side of Wanneroo Rd secured by 8.15am.
The fire crews had remained on site until 1.30pm to support Western Power personnel during and after the line clearing process and to ensure that the fire ground was secure.
As reported in Embers from much earlier fire sparked big Yanchep bushfire the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) concluded that strong easterly winds, vehicular movement or a combination of both blew an ember or embers from the initial fire into an unburnt area on the western side of Wanneroo Rd.
This bushfire was reported at 2.16pm and by 3.07pm DFES had put out a bushfire watch and act for Yanchep National Park.
Then about an hour later at 4.14pm that was upgraded to an emergency warning for the national park as well as Old Yanchep Rd and Yanchep Beach Rd including Yanchep Golf estate.
Less than an hour later at 5.02pm residents in the Yanchep town centre were receiving texts messages advising them of the emergency warning and telling them if the way was clear they should leave the area.
As the bushfire raced along Yanchep Beach Rd heading towards the Yanchep town centre it quickly destroyed beehives and a house as well as the Yanchep Service Station owned by the Vaz family.
It also threatened businesses and the koala enclosure in Yanchep National Park where 1127ha of land was burnt before in the coming days threatening residents and homes in Seatrees and Breakwater estates, Two Rocks, Guilderton and Woodridge with other areas in both local government areas put on watch and act.
In total the Yanchep bushfire burnt about 13,000ha of land and potentially put about 25,000 people at risk in the northern parts of the City of Wanneroo and the Shire of Gingin.
The 2019 Yanchep bushfire as seen from the Yanchep Beach Rd and Marmion Ave roundabout between about 5.30pm and 6pm on December 11. Picture: Anita McInnesAt its peak 400 firefighters fought the blaze, which accounted for about 4.7 million litres of the 8.9m litres of water used to fight bushfires in WA in that year.
No lives were lost and the firefighters – from the Parks and Wildlife Service, Bush Fire Service, Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service, Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services and the Career Fire and Rescue Service – saved more than 6000 homes, which had been in the path of the bushfire.
A timeline of the Yanchep bushfire and a Timeline of the Yanchep bushfire part two were put together in December 2020 and January 2021 respectively using Emergency WA alerts issued by DFES during the bushfire.
Meanwhile, West Australians can use the My Bushfire Plan website or mobile application to create a plan that outlines what they will do in the event of a bushfire.
Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm said having a bushfire plan was vitally important.
“The 2023-24 bushfire season was longer and more intense than we have experienced in recent years and should serve as a wake-up call to the community,” he said.
“The first emergency-level blaze arrived much earlier than usual, in October 2023, and over the seven months that followed firefighters battled 5088 bushfires – 1000 more than the previous season.
“But the reality is firefighters can’t be at every home during an emergency, so it’s important that people sit down with their family now, complete a bushfire plan and agree on a course of action to keep them safe using the my bushfire plan app or website.”
