WA Bushfires Destroy Up To 20 Homes Near Perth

Bushfires in Toodyay area, north of Perth, Western Australia, have burned over 2700 hectares and destroyed up to 20 homes so far. Toodyay is on the other side of Avon Valley National Park from Perth. Toodyay is about 85km away from Perth. Residents of the threatened bushland were evacuated to Toodyay and nearby Northam. Further north, bushfires havebroken out in Badgingarra (bushland around Dandaragan)and consumed 5000 hectares, though no homes are currently threatened.

According to WA FESA (Fire and Emergency Services Authority), the fires are still out of control.

Australia is in the middle of bushfire season: Perth is hot and dry, even by Australian standards- last time I spent Christmas in WA, temperatures reached something like 42C (107F) in Giraween, a suburb of Perth. Residents are probably thinking of the devastating bushfires that ravaged Victoria last year, and introduced the world to Sam the Koala.