'Apocalyptic' skies over Perth as smoke from Hills bushfire blankets city
Updated
Authorities are treating an out of control bushfire in the Perth Hills, which has blanketed the city with smoke, as suspicious.
Up to 150 Parks and Wildlife Service firefighters along with volunteer bushfire brigades are working to control the blaze in Mundaring in the Hills.
The bushfire has been upgraded to a watch and act for people in and near the Mundaring Weir Village in the Mundaring shire and the City of Kalamunda.
There is a possible threat to lives and homes as the fire is approaching the area and conditions are changing.
Many people have taken to social media to report ash falling from the sky in several suburbs in the Hills and some have even described scenes as "apocalyptic".
The fire was reported around 8:30am Sunday morning and water-bombing aircraft were called immediately to help.
Authorities said the presence of a handful of residential properties in the area increased the urgency to get the blaze under control.
The Department of Parks and Wildlife said they had identified two ignition points that they believe were set by an arsonist.
The fire is burning about 12 kilometres south east of Mundaring and started near the intersection of Gorrie Road and Chamber Road, moving in a westerly direction.
Emergency services said the fire was out of control and unpredictable, but there was no immediate threat to lives or homes.
The fire remains at an advice level and has burnt through 1,000 hectares of National Park.
The Parks and Wildlife Service said while there was no immediate danger, people in the area needed to keep up to date in case the situation changed.
Drivers have been warned to be careful because there is a lot of smoke in the area.
A number of roads have been closed including Gorrie Road, Firewood Road from the intersection of Mundaring Weir Road, Smit Road from the intersection of Yarra Road and the Bibbulmun Track between the Hills Forest and Mt Dale.
Wind has blown the smoke plume over the city.
Perth is expecting a deluge to drench the city from late Sunday, but authorities were not counting on it to help extinguish the blaze.
Firefighters will work through the night to strengthen containment lines and are battling strong winds.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the city could receive five times its monthly average rainfall in one day when the remnants of ex-tropical Cyclone Joyce arrive in the metro area after tracking south from the Kimberley.
Between 30 and 50 millimetres of rain is predicted.
Topics: fires, mundaring-6073
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