As a number of bushfires tear across Western Australia, the impact on local wildlife has been vast with thousands of hectares of land and bush being burnt.
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As the Nambeelup bushfire crept eerily close to a number of wildlife reserves and animal rescues in the Peel Region of the state, volunteers had to spring into action.
River Wren wildlife rescue, a treatment and rehabilitation centre for sick, displaced, injured and orphaned wildlife, is situated on Stake Hill Road, just down from where the blaze was situated.
Volunteer Mel Coleman said she was giving the joeys their afternoon bottles when she saw the thick, black smoke.
"I walked back out of the nursery and just saw a wall of black out the front of the property," she said.
"I ran down the driveway and along the street to find out where it was coming from - at that point I had no idea how close or far it was from us."
When the volunteers discovered the fire was too close for comfort, they had to come up with a plan, but Mel said it was important they held their composure.
"Animals are sensitive with the vibes we emit, so it's really important to stay calm in situations like this. All our animals were relatively unaware as to what was going on."
With over 300 animals on the property, and DFES issuing 'watch and wait' instructions for their area as it approached nighttime, the volunteers had a tough decision to make.
The fire was stationary but unpredictable - if they went home and the warning was upgraded with evacuation orders, it may not be safe to return and valuable time would be lost.
So Mel, along with the other volunteers, opted to stay at the property, sleeping under the stars for the night to ensure the safety of their animals.
"There was no way we could just leave the property and go home to our comfy beds," Mel said.
"The manager and her family live on the property, and for some of the volunteers, especially me, this is our second home.
"You wouldn't just walk away from your home and leave your pets behind if there was danger nearby. You form a bond with all the animals that come into care, and it's our job to care for them, so that's what we will do, always."
Mel added that although evacuating that many animals would not have been an easy task, the team at River Wren "would've made it happen".
The team at K9 dog rescue in Nambeelup were also impacted by the fire, and once their location was put into the DFES red zone, they were forced to evacuate.
Organisation president Jake King said their nightmarish experience started around 2pm, when they spotted smoke south east of their main training yards.
"It was a very hot day and the wind was up - we didn't really see it as any threat to our property at first as it appeared to be quite some distance away," he said.
"Within half an hour the smoke seemed to be getting uncomfortably closer, darker and thicker. That's when sirens started. Shortly afterwards, the water bombers appeared."
As sirens got louder and activity in the sky increased, Jake and the K9 team knew the threat was getting serious.
After monitoring the DFES website all afternoon, their location eventually fell within the red bushfire emergency warning, and they knew they had to act immediately.
"We knew this wasn't going to be easy but it had to be done."
Jake said they were inundated with phone calls and Facebook messages from people offering their homes to the dogs from the rescue.
We knew this wasn't going to be easy, but it had to be done.
"Strangers and volunteers alike were putting their hands up to risk their own safety to help. We had so many volunteers come out to our property with their personal vehicles that within an hour of putting the call out, we had safely transported all of our residents to the various pounds, HHSAC and homes."
Mandurah, Murray and Rockingham pounds along with Halls Heads Small Animal Clinic opened their doors to offer emergency housing for animals, and Jake said there was an "amazing community" out there who brought a "beacon of light" during the stressful time.
The Nambeelup fire is currently contained, with an 'advice' alert issued for those in the area. Warnings have also been downgraded for the Rockingham/Shire of Kwinana fire, which first sparked on February 3 and has since burnt 96 hectares of land.
Across the state Bruce Rock, Narrogin, Narembeen, Denmark and Bridgetown have also been issued various states of emergency warnings due to bushfires posing a threat to homes and lives over the past few days.
Bridgetown's fire has seen 2,227 hectares burnt, and a Hazmat warning issued in the Hester Townsite.
The Hazmat incident was caused by bushfire damage to treated timber on-site, the substance identified was Copper Chromium Arsenate and residents within a 500-metre radius of the timber treaters area have been asked to leave the area if they had remained.
Residents are also urged not to use water from their water tanks, use play equipment/outdoor furniture or eat produce from their garden.
Warnings remain firmly in place heading into the new week and DFES have been updating them regularly.
According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), the South West district has a slight chance of showers today, with southwesterly winds from 25-35 km/h.
For the rest of the week, the South West district is predicted to experience light winds of 15-25 km/h south easterly until Thursday.
The Lower West district, which includes the Peel, is forecasted to experience south to south easterly and easterly winds up to 25-35 k/h, with Thursday's forecast being hot and sunny.
Samantha Ferguson
Samantha Ferguson is a journalist at the Mandurah Mail. She is an entertainment, sport, crime, community and education journalist with a special interest in investigative pieces and human interest stories.
Samantha Ferguson is a journalist at the Mandurah Mail. She is an entertainment, sport, crime, community and education journalist with a special interest in investigative pieces and human interest stories.
