Boddington bushfire: Blaze downgraded after burning 4095ha with residents advised to return with caution

An out-of-control bushfire that has burnt 4095ha near Boddington and forced residents to evacuate on Christmas Day has been downgraded to an advice alert, with residents allowed to return with caution.

The advice is in place for people in the Boddington townsite and for people in an area north of Pinjarra Williams Road and west of Bannister Marradong Road and an area north and west of Boddington goldmine in parts of Bannister, Boddington, Marradong and Wuraming in the Shire of Boddington.

The fire, which reignited from a blaze sparked by lightning about two weeks ago, is contained but not yet controlled.

There is currently no threat to lives or homes and about 170 firefighters are on the ground blacking out and strengthening containment lines.

Aerial support has been sent to assist ground crews - and aircraft will be operating from Dwellingup and Boddington.

Residents were evacuated on Christmas Day to Williams Sport Pavillion, then again to Narrogin Regional Leisure Centre on Boxing Day, as firefighters battled to contain the bushfire.

About 80 people spent Christmas night at the centre, according to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

Bannister Marradong Road from Pinjarra-Wiliams Road to Albany Highway, and Crossman Road from Bannister Marradong Road to Albany Highway have now been reopened.

Several roads remain closed, including Gold Mine Access, Siding, Old Soldiers, Palmers and Robins roads, Farmers Avenue and some mine access tracks.

The fire was downgraded to a watch and act just before 7.30am on Boxing Day, with a DFES spokesperson saying favourable conditions overnight with increased humidity had helped firefighters consolidate containment lines.

It was downgraded again to advice just after 10.30am on Saturday.

In a community update meeting on Friday afternoon, incident control officer Phil Brandrett said it was important everyone adhered to vehicle control points and directions given by firefighters.

“We’re trying to tell people it’s not worth it to try and cheat and jump the road blocks or go the back ways,” he said.

“If the roads are closed, they are closed for a reason.

“We can’t account for you if we don’t know where you are.

“This is the place to be, this is where you can be registered and we can look after you.”

Boddington Hospital was closed on Christmas Day, with the WA Country Health Service telling anyone in need of medical assistance to go to Armadale Hospital instead.

A WACHS spokesperson said staff had been evacuated, and the hospital would stay closed until further notice.

More than 200 firefighters were deployed over Christmas Day and Boxing Day to help save the Boddington townsite and surrounding farmland.

Crews from the Boddington goldmine were also providing firefighting support with machinery and emergency response teams.

Aerial support remained on the scene until last light on Christmas Day, with 13 aircraft attending to assist crews on the ground and all returning on Boxing Day.

DFES Commissioner Darren Klemm said on Friday it had been a challenging 48 hours for firefighters, with crews working overnight, and throughout Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to save homes and lives.

“The bushfire came within 2km of the Boddington town site last (Christmas) night,” he said.

“Firefighters have done an incredible job protecting lives and homes.”

Mr Klemm said there had been no reports of property loss.

“Crews have been up against extremely challenging and erratic bushfire behaviour — with gusty winds which changed direction throughout the night, dense fuel loads and spotting more than 250m from the fire,” he said.

“They have managed to hold back the fire from the townsite, working tirelessly through the night to build containment lines and prioritising the protection of homes and assets.”

Shire of Boddington president Eugene Smalberger praised the efforts of the hundreds of firefighters working tirelessly throughout Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day to save properties, homes and the Boddington townsite.

Cr Smalberger said the fire was originally started by lightning almost two weeks ago, and flared up again when temperatures in the area rose on Christmas Eve.

“We have firefighters here from all different towns, we can’t say no to any help, and it’s always great to see everyone come and lend a hand,” she said.

“Newmont have supplied equipment as well.

“They are all doing everything they can and working very hard.”

On Friday afternoon, Mr Brandrett confirmed the blaze had caused “significant damage” to infrastructure at the goldmine, particularly its water supply.

“Some of the pipes and some of the power generation and the communications at the mine have been affected,” he said.

“So one of our priorities with the mine is to assist them to assess the road into the mine, make it safe and enable them to get teams in to assess the damage and do the remediation of repairs, to reinstate a level of normality so they can start putting people back in and restart operations.”