WA fires: Homes, buildings lost as blaze burns on | photos

Yarloop residents say authorities ignored fears about lack of water: Yarloop residents are angry authorities ignored their fears about a lack of water pressure in the town last year after a resident told media there was no water for firefighters to use to try and fight the blaze which destroyed the town on Friday.

Harvey residents flee advancing fire front: As  the Waroona bushfire burns into its third day, there are concerns that the townsite of Harvey could be next in the firing line.

Waroona bushfires declared 'catastrophe' by Insurance Council: The ICA has yet to receive any reliable estimates of claims numbers given many evacuated residents have not yet been able to return to inspect their residences. Initial estimates put the value of insured losses in the tens of millions of dollars.

Lightning hits evacuation centre, cuts power: Waroona resident Mandy Lewis said she was underneath the outside shelter when the lightning hit which was "terrifying". 

A natural disaster protocol for the Waroona bush fire is expected to be triggered: Murray-Wellington MLA Murray Cowper said the current fire was already one of the worst catastrophes on record for his electorate, rivalling the 1961 fire that destroyed Dwellingup.

Waroona fire: 95 homes destroyed in Yarloop, three people missing: "The fire has also torn through 70 per cent of the local school, the post office and our own fire station," Department of Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Wayne Gregson said.

Southbound looks at ways to help the firefighters after festival cancelled: Music fans have been contacting Southbound asking if they could donate their refunded ticket to help Waroona bushfire effort.

Home owners flee their properties affected by the Waroona fires: Hundreds of people were evacuated from their properties in the Harvey Townsite and fled to the emergency evacuation centre at the Leschenault Leisure Centre in Australind on Thursday.

Busselton volunteer fire fighters help Waroona: Sixty volunteer firefighters from Busselton, Dunsborough and Yallingup have been helping emergency services fight the Waroona bush fires on a 24-hour rotation.

THURSDAY'S COVERAGE:  WA fire emergency

Three residents missing for hours on Friday in the small WA town of Yarloop, destroyed by fire, have now been accounted for. 

Police made the announcement at a community meeting on Friday afternoon. 

About 95 homes were lost as the bushfire, which continues to menace other locations in the shires of Harvey and Waroona, swept through the town. 

Fire and Emergency Services commissioner Wayne Gregson told gathered media on Friday that the loss estimate included numerous other public buildings, including historical townsite buildings, workshops, factories, three quarters of the school, the post office and adjacent stores and the fire station.

A Yarloop community meeting was held at 10am, and since then most remaining residents, including some who initially chose to stay and defend their homes, have been evacuated by air and by road. 

"There's very little of Yarloop left. I couldn't get all the way down there but understand the steam museum is gone ... the post office survived, the pub is gone, the bowling club survived," Mr Sackville told Radio 6PR.

"Fortunately I have a firefighting pump and house and managed to save our house and the horses that were in the paddock - they are in the backyard now.

"But I look around 360 degrees and everything is burnt to a cinder. I think the post office is the only building left standing [in the main street]. The fire was horrendous."

'There is very little of Yarloop left'

Yarloop Bowling Club president Ron Sackville said the fire had ripped through the main street of the town, which is located about 120 kilometres south of Perth.

"There's very little of Yarloop left. I couldn't get all the way down there but understand the steam museum is gone ... the post office survived, the pub is gone, the bowling club survived," Mr Sackville told Radio 6PR.

"Fortunately I have a firefighting pump and house and managed to save our house and the horses that were in the paddock - they are in the backyard now.

"But I look around 360 degrees and everything is burnt to a cinder. I think the post office is the only building left standing [in the main street]. The fire was horrendous."

Mr Sackville fired a broadside at both government authorities and private land owners around the town.

"The water situation is absolutely disgusting," he said.

"The Minister for Water should resign - there was no water here to fight the fire, the trucks couldn't fill up. It's just the devastation of a whole town.

"The fire was horrendous. There has been a real lack of land maintenance around Yarloop by some of the private owners - once the fire got into that at the northern end of town, there was no stopping it."

Ironically, some people from fire-threatened Waroona had been seeking refuge in Yarloop on Thursday - before winds changed and put the former mill town in the path of the firestorm.

Authorities had on Thursday night said they would be unable to confirm the losses until daylight, but local MP Murray Cowper said residents who stayed to protect their homes had told him numerous buildings in the town have been destroyed.

"Yarloop has sustained heavy damage," Mr Cowper told the ABC.

"Fire came down the hill and I understand it has gone through the town site.

"There's unconfirmed reports that we've lost the pub and a number of other significant buildings."