On 30 December 2007, a strong northerly wind change caused breakaways from the containment lines and the fire crossed the Great Eastern Highway from north to south. Roadblocks were established; however several escorted convoys of vehicles were permitted to travel through the fire area.

A convoy of vehicles from Coolgardie arriving at the eastern side of the fire, without an escort, drove into the fire area. Several trucks were engulfed in flames, resulting in three deaths.

The highway remained closed until containment lines were completed and a fall-back strategy was implemented on 9 January 2008. The final size of the fire was 39,630 ha.

An inquiry into the deaths found three dominating causes - the expectations of fire behaviour in shrubland fuels at night; the procedures for managing road blocks; and the strategic assessment of the fire's potential; but concluded that there were many complex, interacting contributing factors and extenuating circumstances that lead to the incident outcomes.