Western Australia bushfire. Photo: Paul Pichugin

Most of the fires that have devastated parts of Western Australia are becoming controlled, but the number of homes that have burned has risen to 64, while 32 were damaged. On Monday some residents of the Kelmscott and Roleystone areas first heard the fates of their houses when a role call of addresses was rapidly read at a public meeting.

As firefighters began to control the fires, Premier Colin Barnett declared an area around the Perth foothills a disaster zone. He announced that the government was going to give $3,000 to those who had lost their homes, and $1,000 to those whose properties were damaged.

Since the Black Saturday fires, the government has been touting a new early warning system for bushfires, but some  families whose homes were destroyed said they either did not receive warnings from fire authorities or telephone and text alerts arrived hours after they had fled areas that burned. Fire and Emergency Services Authority officials said the fact that no one died in the fires is proof that the system worked well.

Roger Underwood, a former senior West Australian forester, has called for a public inquiry into the fuel management program, saying insufficient prescribed burning has led to a buildup of fuels. He blames the “greenie opposition to prescribed burning” and the “babes in the woods” who have moved from the city to the hills.