Fire continues to rip through bushland

An out of control fire near the Waterbank community, 20km from Broome, has ripped through 7500 hectares of bushland in little under 24 hours.

The bushfire was first reported at 11.15am yesterday and was believed to have started near the intersection of Crab Creek Road and Broome Road.

In a statement released at 8.53am, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said the fire was still out of control and unpredictable, but was moving in a North-Westerly direction.

It said 40 firefighters were on the scene and that the cause of the blaze was unknown.

A “watch and act” alert was still in place for southern parts of Waterbank and a “bushfire advice” for Four Mile.

Broome to Cape Leveque Road, McGuigan Road, Lawrence Road and Waterbank Road all remained closed.

Broome Highway was closed yesterday, from the Great Northern Highway to Broome to Cape Leveque Road, leaving motorists stranded for more than seven hours, until it re-opened at about 9pm last night.

More information can be found at emergency.wa.gov.au.