Extreme weather in Western Australia spares residents from bushfires

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RESIDENTS in Western Australia’s south are counting themselves lucky after being spared from “frightening” bushfires that have destroyed at least one home.

Rain has come to the aid of firefighters, who have been battling dozens of bushfires in and around the City of Albany, in the south of the state, since Thursday.

Emergency warnings for Redmond, Marbelup and Elleker, and parts of Napier, were downgraded early on Saturday morning after rain helped suppress the blazes.

Homes and lives were no longer in danger, but authorities warned there was a lot of smoke in the area, and residents should stay aware in case the situation changed.

It’s believed at least one home in Napier has been razed, City of Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington said.

He described vision of the fires as “absolutely frightening”, with winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour fanning flames.

“We’re just so lucky we didn’t have any fatalities,” Mr Wellington told AAP on Saturday.

“Some people were in open paddocks with trucks around them watering them down as fire went around them.

“It’s a testament to the work that was done by volunteers and the fire brigade that all of those properties were saved.”

Mr Wellington said crews were “stretched to the limit” on Thursday when about 50 fires were burning at the same time.

It’s been suggested some of the fires were caused by burns on private land that escaped control lines in unfavourable conditions.

The mayor said landowners needed to take heed of warnings and be aware of the consequences.

“If it doesn’t happen to suit your purpose, well that’s tough. You need to take heed of the warnings that are there,” he said.

“We’ll go have an investigation into that in the next few days.” Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan is expected to visit the area on Saturday afternoon.