Gidgegannup (a township 40 km north-east of Perth) recorded 137.8 mm rainfall, surpassing the previous record of 85 mm set in 1985. This potentially contributed to increased fuel loadings from the growth of grass and vegetation. In December 2020 and January 2021, Perth recorded less than 5 mm of rainfall and temperatures averaging over 30 degrees, resulting in the curing of available fuel loads.
A fire in the Perth Hills suburb of Wooroloo (45 km north-east of Perth) was reported at 12.02 pm on 1 February. The potential of the fire was immediately recognised by first responders and incident management personnel, with the subsequent rapid escalation of resources and issuing multiple community warnings crucial in protecting lives and property. Within the first hour, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) had received 66 triple zero calls, mobilised 6 aerial assets and multiple firefighting crews and issued emergency warnings for multiple suburbs within the Shire of Mundaring and the City of Swan advising those at risk to evacuate.
More than 140 firefighting appliances and 280 firefighters from various agencies would attend in the first 12 hours of the incident. The first reports of property damage were received a little over an hour after the start of the fire, as it rapidly spread through the semi-rural townships of Wooroloo, Gidgegannup and Tilden Park.
The fire impacted an area of more than 10,500 ha inside a perimeter of 154 km, with 86 homes lost and more than 100 other structures in its path destroyed or damaged. The majority of the property losses were experienced in the first 24 hours however, more than 200 properties were reported as saved during the incident as a result of carefully planned and executed strategies and the outstanding work of fire crews, aircraft and support personnel. Rainfall associated with a slow-moving tropical low moving down the south-west coast assisted in extinguishing the fires on 7 February.
It was evident from the start this fire was going to provide challenges for emergency responders. Rates of spread up to 5 km/h were recorded and spot fires several kilometres ahead of the fire front made containment difficult as crews reported exploding trees and flame heights in excess of 20 m. High temperatures, strong persistent winds, low humidity and extremely low dew points coupled with steep and inaccessible terrain and high fuel loads made suppression very difficult, especially in the first days of the fire. Historically, night-time conditions provide an opportunity for firefighters to consolidate containment lines however, little relief was provided on the first night with the fire nearly trebling in size from 1680 ha reported at 7.30 pm on 1 February to 6228 ha at 8.00 am on 2 February (4548 ha increase) as a result of strong winds and an unusually low dew point (-5°C).
The bushfire coincided with a five-day lockdown of Perth metropolitan and Peel regions that started at 6 pm on 31 January due to a case of COVID-19 community transmission arising from hotel quarantine. Many of the bushfire impacted areas were within the Perth metropolitan region which added a layer of complexity to the management of the incident. Specific community messaging, planning and procedures were required to manage COVID-19 safety for affected community and responders throughout the duration of the incident.
The DFES Commissioner stressed to residents that if they were being told to evacuate because of the fire they should go if the way was clear. Residents affected were permitted to evacuate to family member’s homes despite the COVID-19 lockdown. Speaking from a DFES Incident Control Centre set up at the Mundaring Arena, Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan described the current situation as unprecedented and dangerous, ‘…we’re facing disasters on two fronts, the devastating bushfires and COVID-19 pandemic’.
There was little respite as dangerous conditions persisted on 2 February and reports of damage to properties from the fire grew. The emergency alert warning area continued to expand, encompassing more localities. A smoke alert was issued for much of the Perth metropolitan area, extending from Joondalup (26 km north of Perth) to Fremantle (19 km south-west of Perth) warning communities of the dangers associated with smoke from the bushfire and the actions they should enact. Hot and dry conditions with winds from the north and north-east were predicted to put pressure on the 30 km long southern flank of the fire, presenting significant risk to the suburbs of Gidgegannup, Bullsbrook and Brigadoon. It was reported by the early evening on 2 February the bushfire had grown to 8,000 ha.
Numerous emergency alerts and public warnings were issued throughout the incident, with the Emergency WA website regularly updated. On 2 February, more than 544,000 people viewed the website which peaked at 120,000 users in one hour.