A bushfire expert has sparked controversy by claiming photos of houses caught in the Perth blaze proved they burned from the inside and could have been saved if residents stayed and defended them.
At least 81 homes have been destroyed in the fire that has raged through Perth’s northeast fringe since Monday and hundreds more families evacuated.
Joan Webster, an Order of Australia medallist and award-winning writer on bushfire safety, shared photos of a razed house to her Facebook page Bushfire Safety Awareness on Wednesday.
She claimed that because the trees surrounding the home was not burnt, this showed the house was ignited from embers making their way inside.
In a detailed post that sharply divided opinion, Ms Webster claimed the policy of ‘evacuation is a policy of unnecessary house loss’.
Joan Webster, an Order of Australia medallist, and journalist who has specialised in writing about bushfire safety shared photos of a crumbled house to her Facebook page Bushfire Safety Awareness on Wednesday
Mr Webster has sparked controversy over her ‘irresponsible’ post which has suggested houses could be saved from bushfires if people stayed to defend them
‘It is not reported “sweeping flames” that have reduced them to rubble, but blown embers entering. They have burned from the inside. Hence the untouched trees,’ she wrote.
Ms Webster said some bushfire authorities reported that some people recently ‘stayed to defend [their homes] quite successfully’.
‘Had more been advised correctly on how to do so; been advised correctly on how to react safely rather than in the panicked way reported – e.g.: ”forced to flee when a rapidly burning bushfire bore down”, ”forced to flee when they saw the fire coming towards them”,’ she said.
‘Had someone had been there to douse blown embers – in all likelihood more homes would still be standing.’
Thousands of residents in Perth’s northeast fled to evacuation centres due to the wild bushfire that started on Monday in Wooroloo.
Several severe warnings are still in place across the area.
Fire authorities warned it was too late to leave Clenton Road and Berry Road, Gidgegannup, and Shady Hills Estate and East Bullsbrook.
They were instructed to shelter in their house in a room with two exits such as a laundry or kitchen, and close all doors and windows.
‘You need to shelter in your home in a room away from the fire front and make sure you can easily escape,’ the advice read.
‘If your home catches on fire and the conditions inside become unbearable, you need to get out and go to an area that has already been burnt.’
Firefighters work to tackle a blaze in Wooroloo as fires rip through Perth’s north-east this week
More than 250 firefighters have been battling the blazes with the help of more than 20 aircraft including two aerial tankers
No lives have been lost so far as more than 300 firefighters continue to battle the blaze.
Hundreds of Facebook users lashed out at Ms Webster’s ‘irresponsible’ message which they believe does more harm than good.
‘This article is going to cost lives. Yes under certain conditions a well prepared house can be defended,’ one wrote.
‘Under the conditions you describe if it was prepared well enough it will still be standing when you come back.’
‘This is completely inappropriate, telling people to risk their own lives for the sake of possibly saving property,’ another wrote.
‘It’s all very well to talk about this after the fact, but one cannot really know – not even the experts – how a bushfire will play out.’
Many said that though in some circumstances people could defend their homes from the fires, the risk of losing their lives was not worth it.
Others pointed out that many residents who lost their homes were older citizens who wouldn’t have had the skills or fitness to fight off the flames.
Ms Webster is an award winning journalist who has published a book on bushfire safety
Former NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Greg Mullins praised the work Ms Webster has done for bushfire safety, but stressed it was important for people to take into account the advice of fire authorities.
‘Ms Webster has done an outstanding job over the years educating people about bushfire safety,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Research into the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires found that if people stayed with will prepared homes, they could be saved.
‘However, after Black Saturday in 2009, researchers and fire services established that under the worst conditions fires may not be survivable and even well-prepared homes may burn down.
‘The new fire danger rating of catastrophic was introduced and fire services now recommend evacuation under those conditions.’
Mr Mullins said hotter, drier weather driven by climate change resulted in extreme and catastrophic weather happening more often across Australia.
‘Even during severe and very high fire danger conditions fire services might recommend evacuations,’ he said.
‘People need to act immediately because firefighters will have taken into account local weather, terrain, fuel and fire intensity and made informed, expert decisions.’
Ms Webster defended her Facebook post in a statement to Daily Mail Australia and said it was ‘necessary’ to question misunderstandings about bushfires.
‘There is absolutely nothing in this post to warrant the attacks made upon it in comments,’ she said.
‘Most of the antagonistic remarks stem from ignorance and fear… fear so ingrained that a person becomes unable to take in and consider an alternative possibility.’
She said there was an assumption that because people died defending their homes in the past, that this was always the outcome.
Firefighters are seen near a blaze in Wooroloo on Tuesday in Perth
More than 70 homes have been burnt in the fires that began in Wooroloo on Monday
Ms Webster also stressed that the major loss of homes was due to embers entering homes and not them being engulfed in flames from the outside.
‘We need to ask, and to strive for honest answers, because all investigations to date have shown that almost every bushfire calamity has been contributed to in some way by those involved,’ she said.
‘By a lack of knowledge, or misunderstanding, of the victims. This is a harsh statement. But true.
‘Stayers, shelterers, and goers need equally to be prepared, be planned, be practiced, with a bushfire safety plan that includes knowing how to defend safely, how to leave safely; how to leave their house so it can be safe; how to shelter safely if it’s too late to leave.’
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Ms Webster has written two books raising awareness of bushfire safety that are widely acclaimed by fire authorities for providing life-saving advice.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services Assistant Commissioner Rick Curtis said during a bushfire the safest option was always to ‘leave early’.
‘People who choose to stay and defend their properties must be mentally and physically prepared to the highest level,’ he said in a statement.
This includes having the right protective clothing and equipment, a pressure pump, independent supply of water and sufficient fuel for the pump.
Residents should also maintain their garden and clear out their gutters while having a backup plan to shelter in case they are unable to leave.
Thousands of residents have fled to evacuation centres. Pictured are residents waiting anxiously for an update on their homes on Wednesday
