Ellenbrook bushfire: Homes damaged, three hectares burnt in terrifying blaze

A raging bushfire came frighteningly close to homes in Ellenbrook on Thursday; Flames licked through the fence and took over the backyard pergola, but remarkably, every house in the suburb remained untouched.

Residents were evacuated from the fire area, but those who could not get out in time were forced to take shelter indoors and watch the flames spread just meters down the road.

Matt Beilken managed to get his two young children to a neighbor’s house before the flames nearly reached his property a few minutes later, forcing him to abandon firefighting efforts and seek shelter inside.

“Initially it was moving in a sort of northerly direction and then at one stage the wind changed and it came straight at my house,” he told The West.

“I had to take shelter for a while because the flames reached my garage.

“When I realized the fire was coming towards me, I quickly threw the kids into the car. One of my neighbors was standing out front, so I drove the kids and the dog over there and asked him to look after them. The kids got pretty scared at one point.”

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said about 3 hectares of forestland near the Tonkin Highway was lost in the fire, which was still burning last night. The motive was unknown, but authorities did not rule out arson.

Smoke billowed across the highway for much of the afternoon, creating challenging conditions for motorists.

DFES incident controller Tim McGrade said 75 crews were called to fight the fire and a number of water bombers were assisting from the air. Mr. Beilken, a volunteer firefighter, thought he was in a “distressed situation” when he had to seek shelter indoors.

“I pretty much went straight into defense mode,” he said. “I turned on the hose, watering the sides of the garage, hoping it would burst quickly so I could get into defense mode as quickly as possible before any part of my house was ripped out.

“This is the first time I’ve actually had to defend a house; my first time protecting a house from fire was my own house.”

“I just came back from the Boddington bushfire last weekend and four or five days later I walked right into the fire again.”

Homes were damaged and nearly three hectares burned after a bushfire broke out in Ellenbrook on Thursday afternoon.

At around 14.45, firefighters and water bombs arrived at the scene as the flames engulfed the houses.

An emergency alert was issued just after 3pm and residents were told that lives and homes were at risk.

The emergency alert was converted to a watch and took action about two hours later.

DFES incident controller Tim McGrade confirmed homes were damaged in the fire and photos from the scene showed an awning and backyard pergola had been destroyed.