Perth hills bushfire: Firefighters on alert as warm weather threatens Wooroloo’s scorched fire ground

Firefighters in the midst of extinguishing what remains of the Wooroloo bushfire are keeping a wary eye on the scorched fire ground, with temperatures expected to spike later in the week. Department of Fire and Emergency Services Commisioner Darren Klemm said while the devastating blaze was contained and controlled, the danger had not yet passed. Speaking to media following a community meeting in Gidgegannup this afternoon, Mr Klemm warned warmer weather was forecast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. "We're into 30C degrees later in the week, so we've certainly still got one eye on the bushfire season we've still got ahead," he said. There are about 100 firefighters on the ground today, making sure everything in the blackened area is fully extinguished. "We want to make sure this fire is the safest we can make it (before the warm weather returns," Mr Klemm said. "Clearly their priorities have changed following the significant rain that we've had over the last day or so. "The next two, three days is very much about making sure everything is extinguished. "A lot of standing trees have still got fire in them and this rain won't necessarily deal with that. "There's still a lot of burning logs on the ground, which firefighters will work through over the coming days." He said firefighters' key role now is to "work in from the tracked edge, just to make sure we've got every last bit of fire out". "There will be flames and sometimes smoke visible but often it's well inside the external edge in the fire," Mr Klemm said. "Some of the areas well inside the external boundary of the fire, they'll be left for some period time, but certainly anything close to the edge (will be put out)." At least 86 homes were destroyed by the Wooroloo bushfire, which ripped through more than 10,000 hectares of land. It is understood about 54 of those homes were in Tilden Park, which was hit hardest the night of Monday, February 1. As most of the damage to the rural estate happened in the evening, The West Australian was told aerial suppression wasn't used in that area "at that stage". Mr Klemm said the police arson squad was still investigating the cause of the fire. "That's in the hands of police, it's their responsibility to do that (find the cause of the fire) and I certainly haven't been advised of any outcome there," he said. He added that the support offered to victims since last Monday from across Perth had been incredible. "I'd like to thank everybody that's offered to help the people that have been affected by these fires," he said. "The assistance that's out there is just extensive and the amount of people, organisations (and) businesses that just want to help people who've been hit during this difficult fire is absolutely outstanding." When asked to address the community meeting today — in which some membersreportedly aired their frustrations over difficulties accessing their properties in the immediate aftermath of the blaze — Mr Klemm said the overall response from the public had been positive. "There's issues that have come up that are common themes that we've heard. Access through road blocks and these sorts of things for people that live inside the affected area is always going to be challenging," he said. "It's a balancing act between the needs and the safety of the people that are in there as well as the safety and the needs of the operational firefighters on the ground in there and the difficult conditions that can be faced. "Usually the roads are covered in smoke, its a difficult, challenging situation and it's not the place that we necessarily want the public because we want the firefighters to have the best possible chance to be able to make the most positive impact on the fires. "We understand that people want to get back into their homes as soon as the fire's passed, the importance of that to mental health is well understood by DFES ... we understand the critical nature of it." As the fire has been declared contained, access to the fire ground is available. Meanwhile police are yet to confirm the cause of the Yallingup bushfire, but said the investigation was very much warranted. "I haven't heard anything from police but certainly six different seeds of fire starting on or about the same time in the same area is good cause to get the arson squad involved," Mr Klemm said. "I'd be surprised if they don't arrive at a position to be able to give that (fire cause) to us in the next week or so. "I hope to be able to do that in the next day or so, but that doesn't prevent works from going on and I know that Main Roads are very well advanced with the repairs to the 10km of the North West Coastal Highway that have been damaged and they're ready to go, and whether the DRF has been activated before then or not is not going to affect that.”