Australia Weather News

Firefighters are patrolling a number of fires in Western Australia as the state takes stock of some of the worst fires in its history.

At Esperance in the state's south east, firefighters are monitoring three fires; all are under control but still smouldering.

More than 280,000 hectares has been burnt in the past nine days at Esperance and four lives, houses, sheds, machinery and almost 5,000 livestock were also lost.

Wind accompanying the fires damaged barley and canola crops in the region.

The state's main grain handler, the CBH Group, said 500,000 tonnes of grain had been destroyed.

In an unusual show of solidarity, all Western Australian Federal senators have signed a motion to recognise the Esperance bushfires.

The motion, which will be put forward this afternoon by Liberal Senator Dean Smith, has received bipartisan support.

This means that if Federal assistance is needed by farmers in the state's south east into the future, all political parties in the Senate are on board.

"It is good that in moments when there is a need for a single, united voice, people can put their partisan politics behind them and join together in this spirit to make sure people know that, in their most tragic of times, they will get the united support of their parliamentary representatives," Senator Smith said.

"It's unusual, but I'm particularly proud and pleased that today, we've been able to step up to the mark and support Esperance's people in the Senate."

North of Perth two fires threatened properties on Sunday and a house, two sheds and an art studio were destroyed near Bindoon in the Shire of Chittering.

A sultana vineyard in the region also suffered significant damage.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said nearly 6,000 hectares had been burnt in the shires of Chittering and Gingin.

Bindoon farmer Shane Kay lost approximately 50 hectares on his property and several kilometres of boundary fencing was destroyed.

He said while the damage was devastating for those affected, the fire could have been a lot worse as there was a lot of dry fuel on the ground.

"The way it was heading was out into the Julimar Forest, and it got very close to that," he said.

"If it wasn't for the fact that the water bombers were very active ... They certainly have a huge impact on controlling it.

"They were really important in getting in there and dropping water on the hot spots as it went through.

"Some of that bush hadn't been burnt for a long, long time, so it was very hot.

"We got affected by a similar fire back in the early nineties; it came from the same direction and burnt one of our whole properties to the south of Bindoon that year and took everything out and scorched the outside of an orchard.

"So when I saw this one go up, the direction that it started and the way the wind was blowing, I thought it was going to be an exact replica of that fire in 1991-92."