The fire from Pink Lake on Saturday night. Photo: Jen Lavers
Residents in parts of Gibson, Monjingup and Myrup had to leave their homes ahead of a bushfire on Saturday night.
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The Weekender understands the fire started when a header caught fire while harvesting near Gibson around 3pm on Saturday afternoon.
Recorded sightings of smoke began circulating soon after on social media and bushfire brigade members attending the Edge of the Bay Festival received call outs on their phones.
At 5pm it was reported the fire had reached Helms Arboretum and by nightfall the sky lit up as the fire blazed.
Late in the evening Esperance Shire closed South Coast Highway between Gibson-Dalyup and Shark Lake Roads, and DFES urged people in parts of Gibson, Monjingup and Myrup to evacuate if they could.
The Department of Communities established an evacuation centre at the Graham Mckenzie Stadium.
By 10am Sunday the warning had been downgraded to watch and act, and the last people were leaving the evacuation centre.
While the fire destroyed crops and a shearing shed, there were no reported injuries to people or livestock.
The fire was a cause of anxiety for many farmers in the Esperance Port zone, as about 40 per cent of the Barley crop, 30 per cent of Canola and most of the wheat and pulses were yet to be harvested.
