Firefighters battled the blaze as it tore through the Marri Conservation Reserve in the town of Dunsborough in WA’s South West.  (Supplied: Wallcliffe Volunteer Fire Brigade)

Dunsborough residents return home after bushfire emergency

(ABC) -- Fire authorities are fuming after private drones again forced the grounding of water bombers during a bushfire emergency in Western Australia’s South West.
Residents in Dunsborough, 250 kilometres south of Perth, began returning home on Monday morning after a bushfire in the tourist town’s heart sparked evacuations on Sunday.
Reported just before 1pm, the fire started in bushland west of Cape Naturaliste Road, before spreading into the nearby Marri Conservation Reserve, wedged between two residential areas.
The cause is yet to be determined.
Residents Carly Hopkins and Helen Yeaman were some of those evacuated and described the experience as nerve-wracking.
“It was a bit unnerving,” Ms Yeaman said.
“But the firies were on to it right away which was awesome.”
Ms Hopkins said within minutes of calling the authorities, sirens could be heard and not long after water bombers arrived to provide aerial support to the firefighters.
“Police came around and told us to evacuate,” she said.
“And because we only had one road in and out that’s when I felt unsafe.”
Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) district officer Peter Thomas said it was “extremely frustrating” that the presence of a drone in the area resulted in the temporary halt in aerial support for the firefighters.
“Luckily it was after the main use of the aircraft, and we had managed to get the fire into a position where we were a lot more comfortable,” he said.
He said there has been an increase in incidents like this where drones have potentially put lives at risk.
“As soon as we see a drone in the area all our aircraft go down,” Mr Thomas said.
“That means the fire has an easier chance to run, we have the risk of it impacting homes, and we don’t have the aircraft there to support our crews.”
Further south, DFES, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and local firefighters have been battling blazes across the Shire of Manjimup for more than a week.
Currently, the worst of the fires stretch across the areas of Shannon, Boorara Brook, Broke and the Northcliffe State Forest.
Parks and Wildlife incident controller David Meehan said a series of lightning strikes sparked the bushfires across the Shannon, Boorara-Gardener and D’Entrecastaeaux National Parks.
Mr Meehan said this fire has burnt around 16,000 hectares so far, and estimates another 12,000 hectares will be burnt out to containment lines.
“Our main focus at the moment is with the Chesapeake fire, which is the large fire still running east of Windy Harbour,” he said.
“We’re really putting a lot of effort into mopping up, burning out pockets, and getting our containment lines as strong as we can on our northern and western boundaries.”
Mr Meehan said the next two days will be critical, with south-easterly winds and strong 35kph winds along the coast.

(Latest Update February 18, 2025)