Forest fires rage in western Australia (Roundup)

Feb 7, 2011, 5:28 GMT

Sydney - Forty-two houses have been lost and 19 damaged in forest fires blazing 40 kilometres from the centre of the west coast city of Perth, authorities in Western Australia said Monday.

The Fire and Emergency Services Authority said there were no reports of deaths or injuries and winds that had fanned the flames were easing.

Police manning roadblocks to enforce evacuation orders detained several householders trying to return to defend their homes.

Tinder-dry foliage, gusty winds and rocky terrain have made an already difficult firefighting job worse.

'It's in the escarpment and it's a very rocky, hilly area and not friendly to vehicle movement,' authority spokesman Rick Tyler said. 'It's much easier to attack it from the air than from the ground.'

Hundreds of firefighters were battling the blazes with the help of six helicopter water bombers.

People who fled the fires were put up at a gymnasium, where authority staff were to announce which houses had been lost and which were damaged.

'It's not knowing - if you could just get up there and have a look,' Helen Linden told the national broadcaster ABC at the gymnasium. 'It's a shock. You feel numb. You can deal with trauma if you know what it is.'

The loss of homes in Perth coincides with the second anniversary of forest fires north of Melbourne that claimed 173 lives, destroyed 2,000 properties and blackened 450,000 hectares.

The fires near the West Australian state capital are the latest in a string of natural disasters to befall Australia. On the eastern seaboard, torrential January rains flooded much of Queensland state.

Last week, a monster cyclone also thundered over the north Queensland coast, smashing crops and tearing the roofs off dozens of houses.

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