Four people missing as bushfires continue in Western Australia

Four people are missing in Western Australia, as wildfires continue to threaten lives and property. Police confirmed they have found human remains while searching for two men, aged 73 and 77, missing in Yarloop, a small town south of Perth which was almost completely destroyed by the fire. The remains have not yet been formally identified but police said families had been told. Fire Commissioner Wayne Gregson would not release the names of those missing but one was named by the AAP news agency as 73-year-old Malcolm Taylor.

We’ve got additional resources coming in not because we don’t have the capability or the capacity here, it’s just around fatigue management. There are some very tired firefighters out there in need of some relief.

Fire Commissioner Wayne Gregson

A family member said Mr Taylor, who wears a hearing aid, has not been heard from since Thursday evening when he had vowed to stay with his house as the fire approached. She said: “He goes to bed early, around 7.30pm, so we’re worried that he turned off his hearing aid and went to sleep and then the houses went up so quickly." Mr Gregson said that he was hopeful that the missing people "got out early and heeded the warnings”. Around 250 firefighters are battling the fires, which have destroyed at least 131 homes in the state and been declared a natural disaster. The fires continued to burn on Saturday with authorities issuing an emergency warning for the town of Harvey, south of Perth, saying there was a threat to lives and property.

World bushfire