In February, a disaster happened in Wooroloo, a town with a population of 240 residents that is known as one of the smaller towns in Australia. There was a horrible fire that burned 10,750 hectares of land, which is equivalent to approximately 2.5 acres, and destroyed 86 homes. The fire used over 500 firefighters, 300 emergency services, 25 aircrafts and more than 5.2 million liters of foam, water, and retardant. Thankfully, once the fire was extinguished, police officers investigated what had started the fire. A 40 year old man named Daniel Gunter Preuss was charged for starting the fire. The tool that started the fire was allegedly an angle grinder. The offenses were 15 year jail sentences, with no bail.

As for the aftermath from the fire; the Australian and WA governments worked together to clean up after the mess along with the Wooroloo Bushfire Residential Coordinated Clean-up Program. Help was accessible for everyone, and they cleared most of the waste in the bushes in a week. Shane L Stone, coordinator general, says “recovery takes time, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is a major milestone for the people of the Wooroloo region.” Residents from Wooroloo hope to see a better future for their little town. Jonathan Throssell, shire of mundaring and chief executive officer, stated, “Seven months on from the fire, the Shire continues to recognise that we are still in the recovery phase of the bushfire…  It is also important for our learnings as a community now and into the future to prevent other devastating fires.”

Fires are the main natural disasters happening in the world nowadays. We as people have to do as much as possible to prevent such things from happening. Examples would be  cleaning up after ourselves and not leaving flammable things in unsafe places.

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