Emergency crews are bracing for another difficult day as they try to stop a bushfire from reaching a coastal community north of Perth. The blaze near Cervantes was sparked by a car crash and has been pushed towards the town by persistent easterly winds. The western edge of the fire now stretches almost 48-kilometres from north to south.
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00:00We've had an increase of firefighter activity in Durian Bay.
00:06Just behind me there were fire trucks but they've had to head out and have fresh crews
00:10go to that fire.
00:12There are two air tankers on the way from New South Wales now.
00:17The first one is expected to arrive about 10am and then will be operational in the afternoon
00:22to help support this effort.
00:24There are about 200 firefighters on the ground now tackling this fire.
00:29As you can see behind me now there are blue skies here in Durian Bay but just yesterday
00:34in Cervantes I was there covered in smoke and watching the ash fall as that fire became
00:41closer and closer to the Cervantes township.
00:45What sort of conditions are we expecting later on today, Chloe?
00:50So the big issue is that easterly wind that you mentioned, it is just kicking up behind
00:54me now.
00:56DFES have real concerns about the eastern flank of this fire as that wind ramps up.
01:01The other issue is the unpredictable nature of that wind which is making the fire hard
01:06to control and predict.
01:09It is mostly pushing towards the coast now and that is where the townships of Cervantes,
01:14Wedge and Great Island are.
01:16So it's at a point where the fire is now 12km from Cervantes township and there is a significant
01:22concern.
01:23DFES have said it is now in the crucial time.
01:27The next 12 hours will be crucial.
01:30There are heavy fuel loads in the area and we're expecting high temperatures of about
01:3437 degrees today and 39 degrees tomorrow.
01:39So as DFES have said, this is the operation now and it is crucial.