McGowan blames weather for WA bushfires

Western Australia's premier has defended prescribed burning and blamed the weather for bushfires that swept through national parks near Albany.

Premier Mark McGowan has defended the state authority responsible for prescribed burns as the clean-up continues from bushfires that swept through Western Australia's south.

Mr McGowan said people would want to point fingers but he believed the conditions that caused more than 50 separate fires to burn out of control in the City of Albany last week were "very difficult to predict and very difficult to prevent".

The blaze destroyed at least one home and buildings on a holiday-stay farm, and killed hundreds of livestock and native wildlife.

"Two of the fires as I understand it were the result of long-standing prescribed burns so they'd been in place for some weeks," Mr McGowan told reporters on Monday.

He said most of the fires were the consequence of farmers burning off and "extraordinary and unprecedented" weather conditions.

The Association of Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades WA president Dan Gossage agreed, saying most of the fires were sparked by private property owners.

He told AAP farmers had probably rushed out and done some last-minute burning before forecasted rain hit the area, despite warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology of possible wind gusts exceeding 120km/h.

Mr Gossage cautioned against "arm-chair critics" who wanted to stop prescribed burning, saying it could cause another disaster like the Yarloop bushfire, which killed two people and destroyed 181 properties.

WAFarmers President Tony York said his group could not speak for individuals but overall supported prescribed burns.

He said private landowners and farmers all had to be aware of advice coming from authorities.

"Unfortunately all the best intentions and controls you put in place can't completely mitigate risk," Mr York told AAP.

He cited the final report from the Ferguson inquiry into the Yarloop blaze, which recommended a prescribed burning program to mitigate fire risk including a process for a "fast-track hazard reduction burn".

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services will conduct an internal inquiry.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world