Australia: Wild Fire - Feb 2011
Disaster description
On the weekend of 5 and 6 February 2011, two major bushfires affected metropolitan Perth. One fire occurred in the suburbs of Roleystone and Kelmscott, south-east of Perth, while the other happened in the north-east. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 7 Feb 2011)
Sixty-eight homes were destroyed and 32 more were damaged by the massive fires which ripped through the suburbs of Kelmscott and Roleystone after being started by sparks from an angle grinder. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 8 Feb 2011)
The fire in the south-east of Perth forced hundreds to flee their homes as 70 kilometre-per-hour winds whipped flames straight onto their properties. Meanwhile, the fire at Red Hill in the north-east burnt more than 1,100 hectares. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 7 Feb 2011)