Fire threat eases in Bullsbrook

Watch exclusive footage showing the moment one of the Bullsbrook fires sparked.

The fire burning in Bullsbrook. Picture: Kathryn Howlett. Source: PerthNow

DANGEROUSLY CLOSE: Firefighters target the Bullsbrook bushfire from the air.. Picture: Josh Tucker Source: PerthNow

DANGEROUSLY CLOSE: Firefighters target the Bullsbrook bushfire from the air.. Picture: Josh Tucker Source: PerthNow

The Bullsbrook bushfire created much smoke over the eastern suburbs. Picture: Paul Wimsett. Source: PerthNow

The fire burning at Walyunga National Park, which began from sparks from a train. Picture: David Ridgway. Source: PerthNow

Emergency services work to fight a bushfire at Walyunga National Park near Bullsbrook. Picture: David Ridgway. Source: PerthNow

Sparks from a train appear to have caused a string of bushfires in Perth's Swan Districts, with flames leaping up to four metres high.

FIREFIGHTERS are gaining ground on a major bushfire burning in Bullsbrook, in Perth's semi-rural northeast with the warning level downgraded at 7:30pm tonight.

More than 200 firefighters, including some who have travelled from as far away as Geraldton and the south coast, will work throughout the night to protect homes which remain under threat.

A bushfire watch and act alert is in place for Shady Hills and west of Walyunga National Park between Stock Road and Walyunga Road in Bullsbrook.

The fire is burning in bushland adjacent to Great Northern Highway, less than one kilometre east of the highway.

The fire is not yet fully contained on the northern side. Firefighters are working in hilly, rocky and difficult to access country to contain the flank.

A possible threat to lives and homes remains.

Two community meetings will be held on Saturday at 10.30am at Pickett Park Hall, 5 Maroubra Avenue, Bullsbrook and at 12.00pm at the corner of Smith Road and Taylor Road, Bullsbrook.

The fire has consumed almost 1500 hectares.

Helitacs are on standby to deal with flare ups and hop-overs.

More than 150 firefighters tackled the blaze near Shady Hills and west of Walyunga National Park in Bullsbrook on Thursday night, saving at least 30 homes using 70 appliances and earthmovers.

Some fencing has been destroyed but so far there have been no other reports of significant losses or damage from the fire.

Trucks are banking up on Great Northern Highway, where traffic is being diverted, because the fire is burning in bushland nearby.

It's understood some residents spent Thursday night in their cars when they were unable to return to their homes.

About 10 evacuees spent Thursday night at a relocation point at Bullsbrook's Pickett Park Hall.

The Walyunga National Park, Bullsbrook District High School and Bullsbrook Community Kindergarten, and Immaculate Heart College were closed on Friday.

While the official cause of the bushfire remains unknown, sparks from a Kalgoorlie-bound freight train were suspected to have sparked a string of fires that became one large blaze.

The fires were first reported just before noon yesterday.

UPDATES

A bushfire WATCH AND ACT has been issued for people near Shady Hills in Bullsbrook in the City of Swan. This includes people in Shady Hills View, Gibbard Place, Clarkson Road, Taylor Road, Foaling Ridge and Auger Place.
west of Walyunga National Park between Stock Road and Walyunga Road to Great Northern Highway in Bullsbrook in the City of Swan.

There is a possible threat to lives and homes as a fire is in the area and conditions are changing.

You need to leave or get ready to actively defend.

WHAT TO DO:
Put your bushfire survival plan into action.
If you are not prepared or you plan to leave, leave now if the way is clear.
If you are well prepared and plan to actively defend your home, make final preparations now.
If you are not at home, do not try to return as conditions in the area could be very dangerous.

POSSIBLE CAUSE

DFES spokesman Allen Gale said the fires had erupted along a train line around the same time, so while the cause of the fire was being investigated, it could have been triggered by a sparking train.

A witness told PerthNow her husband had seen a Kalgoorlie-bound freight train with smoke pouring out from underneath it.

It is believed rail lines to and from Northam in Perth's east have been shut.

"It's up in quite steep terrain,'' Mr Gale told AAP.

"The fire has raced up the hill and it always travels much faster uphill.''

Five water bombers are assisting ground crews.

A relocation point has been set up at Pickett Park Hall. The Swan Park Leisure Centre has been closed.

Bullsbrook District High School will be closed on Friday.

DFES warns residents: "You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. There is a threat to lives and homes.''

ROAD CLOSURES:
A number of roads are closed including:
•    Rutland Road
•    Warbrook Road
•    Walyunga Road
•    Great Northern Highway from Rutland Road to Apple Street
•    Meadowbrook Ramble from Crestmoor Pass including local roads
•    Smith Road from Chittering Road including local roads

Traffic is being diverted south on West Swan Road and no vehicles are able to travel north from West Swan Road on Great Northern Highway.

The fire is burning in bushland adjacent to Great Northern Highway, less than one kilometre west of the highway. 

The fire comes after Wednesday's Swan Valley blaze which threatened properties in Ellenbrook and The Vines throughout the afternoon.

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Two people run down by car after fight

TWO people were run down by a car after a fight at a Success pub early Saturday morning.

A 28-year-old woman and 24-year-old man were injured when a man allegedly drove his Ford Falcon up a median strip and ploughed into the pair.

It followed an altercation at The Gate bar and bistro earlier in the evening, involving the 25-year-old accused man, his friends and the injured couple.

Police allege the man left the pub with his friends and was driving along North Lake Road when they spotted the couple, pulled over and had another altercation.

He then got back in his car and drove into them.

Both victims were taken to hospital. The woman suffered a broken shoulder and bruising, while the man suffered a dislocated shoulder and abrasions.
 

The Atwell man was arrested at the scene and charged with two counts of Act or Omission Causing Bodily Harm, Excess 0.08 per cent and No Authority to Drive.

He will appear in the Perth Magistrates Court on March 4.

Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
 

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Lucky escape after car ploughs into bedroom

Two people were lucky to escape alive after a car crashed into their house in Lathlain. Picture: Bohdan Warchomij Source: PerthNow

Two people were lucky to escape alive after a car crashed into their house in Lathlain. Picture: Bohdan Warchomij Source: PerthNow

A COUPLE are lucky to have escaped serious injury when a car ploughed through their bedroom early this morning.

The accident happened at about 4am when a Holden Commodore lost control on Gallipoli St in Lathlain, smashed through a limestone wall and then into the bedroom.
 
Kensington police said the vehicle was stolen from a home in Quinns Rock by two men aged betwen 15 to 20 years of age and one woman aged the same.
 
Resident Kristie McKibbin said she was woken an hour earlier by a motorist speeding down the street and was in bed when the car hit.
 
'Cars tear down this street all the time, it's the same every weekend you hear police chases and cars hooning past,'' she said.
 
"I can't believe this has happened. "It didn't hit me until I went back into the room and saw the damage.''

 
Mrs McKibbin suffered a minor facial injury due to flying debri.
 
Her husband, Drew, said hoons would do speeds of between 120km to 180km down their street every week.
 
'It's lucky the limestone pillar took the brunt of the impact,'' said Mr McKibbin.
 
"It could have been much worse than this.''
 
Police said they chased the three offenders towards Rivervale until they lost sight of them.
 
Anybody with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Man killed in car roll-over

A MAN has died and a woman injured in a car-rollover near Bouvard, 20km south Mandurah.

The crash happened on a dirt track off White Hill Road near the beach about 10.30am.

The male driver was killed and the female passenger suffered minor injuries.

A second car was driving behind the pair and stopped to help.

Major Crash Investigators, St John Ambulance and the RAC chopper have been sent to assist.
 

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Hoon clocked at 178km/h

A MAN had his ute confiscated after he was clocked driving at nearly 180km in Southern Cross on Friday night.

Police allege the man was driving his Holden Commodore at 178km when he was pulled over about 8.40pm on Great Eastern Highway.

Officers, carrying out highway patrols for the long weekend, confiscated the man's car for 28 days under hoon laws.

The Kambalda man was charged with Reckless Driving and is due to appear in the Southern Cross Magistrates Court on March 19.
 

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Teacher charged with sexual assault

A TEACHER has been charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old student last year.

The 29-year-old Nedlands man was investigated by the Child Abuse Squad, who charged him with eight offences.

Police will allege the man was employed as a teacher at a southern suburbs primary school and committed four counts of indecent dealings with a child between 13 and 16 by a person in authority, and four counts of procuring a child between 13 and 16 to do an indecent act.

He will appear before the Fremantle Magistrates Court on March 12.

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Lost USB contained sermon, sex video

ON TRIAL: Matthew David O'Meara the former Perth Colleage chaplain who is alleged to have been in possession of child pornography. Picture: Richard Polden Source: PerthNow

A VIDEO of a young girl performing a sex act on herself was found on the same thumb drive as church sermons and electoral roll documents for a former Perth College chaplain, a District Court jury has been told.

Anglican chaplain Matthew David O'Meara is on trial over four counts of possessing child pornography after thumb drives were found with photos and videos of young girls on them at the girls' school in August 2010.

It is the second time the matter has gone to trial, with last year's case ending in a hung jury.

Today, the college's head of IT, John Garnett told the new jury he found several photos and videos of young girls on a thumb drive that was handed to him by the drama teacher who had an office in the chapel, along with Mr O'Meara.

The drama teacher had found the USB a few weeks earlier and when no student came forward to claim it, some students helped her open the device to find out who owned it. She was shocked by what she saw and handed the thumb drive to Mr Garnett.

Mr Garnett said he previewed one of the videos where he saw a girl, he guessed was aged eight to 12 years old, by herself with a web camera, naked and doing a sex act.

"I was in shock, it was starting to click in the gravity of the situation," he said.

Mr Garnett said on the same thumb drive he also found Word documents, including one titled "Easter sermon" and scanned images of two electoral roll forms, one each for Mr O'Meara and his wife.

Mr Garnett said after making the discovery, he told the college principal of his findings.

The trial continues.
 

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Man, 24, bashed at Laneway Festival

Police believe many people were witnesses to the assault at Laneway Festival. Picture: Bohdan Warchomij Source: PerthNow

A MAN suffered a fractured skull, head and facial injuries when he was assaulted at the Laneway Festival last month.

Police are keen to hear from witnesses to the attack, which happened in the Perth Cultural Centre on February 9, about 6.40pm.

The 24-year-old was standing alone in a laneway when he was assaulted by a man, causing him to fall to the ground and be rendered unconscious.

Several people helped the man after the attack and police are asking them to come forward and help with their investigation by phoning Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Buswell off track as Metronet cost revealed

UNDER ATTACK: Labor have pounced on Treasurer Troy Buswell over the Liberals' election costings.

MARK McGowan's Metronet plan to connect Perth's suburbs by rail has been costed by Treasury at $5.2 billion - $1.4 billion more than was costed by Labor.

Although the project would cost $4.335b in today's dollar terms, Treasury says that the estimated total cost once it was built would be $5.2 billion, a long way short of the $6.4 billion cost estimated by Treasurer Troy Buswell.

Mr Buswell recently released the advice from the Public Transport Authority that has formed the basis of the Liberals' claim that Metronet - which includes new rail lines to Ellenbrook, Perth Airport and circle lines through the northern and southern suburbs - will cost $6.4 billion.

But Labor was unmoved by the revelations, sticking resolutely to its $3.8 billion price tag, claiming the PTA had costed a plan that was different from what it would build.

"Treasury has costed the Metronet commitment based on the best information available,'' Treasury said.

"However, as the Metronet plan is at a preliminary concept design stage, various assumptions have been made in deriving the costing advice.

"Noting that the costing advice is indicative and based on preliminary concepts only, Treasury estimates the total capital cost of the Metronet commitment at $5.2 billion over eight years.''

According to Treasury, the effect on State debt - tipped to be $25 billion by 2015-16 - was nearly $1 billion extra.

Opposition Leader Mark McGowan said Treasurer Troy Buswell had egg on his face.

Labor says the main difference between its estimate and Treasury's relates to the rail line to the airport. It puts the line at $700 million, while Treasury gave it a $1.2 billion price tag.

Under the plan, rail links will run to Perth's outer suburbs to ease congestion across the city.

However Mr Buswell said not only did the figures show Labor couldn't add up, they also showed that the party wanted to build a rail line that was unreliable and unsafe.

Addressing the discrepancy in the Treasury costings and his party's own estimates of the cost of building Metronet, Mr Buswell said Labor's planned budget is inadequate because it does not allow for a necessary duplication of the Midland rail line between Bayswater and Perth.

Pointing to Treasury commentary that running 18 trains per hour on the Midland line would reduce reliability and safety, Mr Buswell said Labor's plan should now be renamed.

"This is not Metronet. This is Metronot, because it is not funded, not costed, not reliable and not safe,'' Mr Buswell said.

Buswell needs Federal Government funding

Meanwhile Mr Buswell said he expected half of the party's election commitments - the MAX light rail, a heavy-gauge rail line to Perth's airport and the Perth-to-Darwin highway - would be paid for by the Federal Government.

He said that was "pretty consistent'' with Commonwealth investment in other metropolitan projects, including the Gateway road project.

Funding from the Federal Government's Nation Building Program had been included in current forward estimates, he said.

"There is plenty of evidence that that money will flow and it will flow into those projects because they are the government's priority projects,'' Mr Buswell told reporters on Friday.

"I would be looking at the Commonwealth to fund at least half of those projects.''

But Opposition Treasury spokesman Ben Wyatt said the admission was extraordinary and showed the Liberals' key election pledges were "nothing but empty promises''.

"It casts serious doubt over these major Liberal Party promises and highlights a massive black hole in their budget,'' Mr Wyatt said.

"They will only proceed if the Federal Government picks up more than half of the tab.''

Mr Buswell said he would submit all of the Liberal Party's election commitments to Treasury for independent costing this afternoon.

They would appear on the Treasury website by Thursday at the latest, he said, adding the Liberals were "very confident and comfortable'' with the figures they had provided for validation.

If the party had made mistakes, that would be made clear in the Treasury documents, Mr Buswell said.

Mr Wyatt defended the party's decision not to hand over all its election commitment costings to Treasury - saying the Liberals had done the same while in Opposition in 2008.

"We'll be submitting the aggregates of our costings to treasury so they can then inform us what impact that has on the net debt level of the State,'' he said.

Mr Buswell accused Labor of being "all over the shop'' with its costings and called on the party to fully inform voters about its plans.

He said there were "risks'' around operating costs for Labor's Metronet, pledges relating to police and building an AFL stadium in Subiaco by 2018, as well as an alternative plan for developing Perth's waterfront.

Mr McGowan initially said the alternative waterfront plan was "good'' but later denied he had adopted it.

Mr Buswell also said Labor's plan to abolish the Tariff Equalisation Contribution levy to reduce household power bills could cost up to $250 million a year.

He said he had not met anyone other than Mr McGowan who believed Labor's plans were deliverable.

Mr McGowan said Labor would build Metronet, because the city's roads would choke if it didn't.

- with AAP

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Sally Ayhan's latest weather update

GET the latest on what the weather's been doing today, plus the forecast for the next 24 hours and week ahead, with Channel 9's weather presenter Sally Ayhan.

Channel Nine's new weather presenter Sally Ayhan gives PerthNow readers a unique insight into what's been happening with the local weather and a sneak peek into what temperatures to expect over the next 24 hours.
 
For Sally's full weather report, including the 7-day forecast, make sure you tune in to Nine News at 6pm tonight.
 

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