Three German backpackers died today in catastrophic bushfires raging through farms and properties in Western Australia.
The tourists — two women and a man — perished in a car engulfed by the fast-moving flames as they tried to escape.
A fourth person, a well-known local farmer, died in another car as he travelled the countryside 60 miles north of the town of Esperance, warning neighbours of the flames tearing across the farmland.
He was driving away from the danger zone when he stopped to help a neighbour and was caught up in the fires, it is believed.
A resident of Esperance, on Western Australia’s south coast, told ABC radio that the farmer ensured his neighbours escaped before getting in his own car.
Andy Johnston said: “One of my mates’ neighbours unfortunately passed away with possibly another person that he was trying to warn to tell to turn around and head the opposite way as they were fleeing from the fire.”
Local Rhonda Morecombe said: “He was a young farmer. An amazing, very clever farmer and neighbour and it is just devastating that we’ve lost so much.”
Fire Commissioner Wayne Gregson today confirmed two men and two women died in fires in the rural Grass Patch and Salmon Gums areas. Police are yet to confirm their identities.
Authorities believe the fires — the biggest witnessed in the region — were started by lightning strikes on Sunday and fanned by 60mph winds in 40C temperatures. Several houses and a school were reported to have been destroyed.
Dozens of firefighters were tackling the flames today with four water-bombing aircraft, while hundreds of back-up crews were on their way from Perth, some 450 miles north-west of Esperance, and other states.
With the hot weather expected to worsen at the start of the state’s bushfire season, Mr Gregson said his crews had responded to 111 incidents and 300 people had been evacuated.
Emergency services minister Joe Francis said: “It’s a horrible way to start what’s obviously going to be an incredibly challenging bushfire season.”
