Smoke from the Castletown fire at midday about 1.2km southwest of the estimated location of the fire. Photo supplied/Minarli Palyamunu.
Esperance detectives are investigating the cause of three “suspicious” fires in the Castletown and Bandy Creek area last week.
A police spokesperson said they received the call for the first of the consecutive fires last Wednesday at 7:20am.
“Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) and Police were called to the fire in bushland behind Hastings Crescent and Mondrain Avenue,” she said.
“Fortunately, DFES personnel were able to extinguish the fire before it could spread to nearby residences.”
Mere hours later, at about 10am, Police and DFES received another call for a bushland fire bordering Goldfields Road, Daw Drive and Ormonde Street.
Emergency WA issued a Bushfire Emergency Warning for the Bandy Creek and Castletown area as the fire threatened nearby homes.
By midday, the warning was downgraded to ‘Watch and Act’ as DFES personnel worked to control the blaze.
Emergency services were called to another fire at a home on Burton Road on Friday at 5:30pm.
A police spokesperson said cardboard boxes outside the home had been set alight causing minor exterior damage to the home.
Esperance Police Detective Sgt Wayne Davies said the two fires on February 5 could be linked due to their proximity and similarity, but unlike the fire at Mondrain Avenue, the Bandy Creek fire quickly got out of control.
On Tuesday, Esperance-Goldfields police released a picture of a man they said they were seeking to identify as part of their investigation into the Wednesday fires.
Sgt Davies said detectives continued to review CCTV and dashcam footage.
“We’re chasing CCTV or dashcam footage from anyone around the area at the time of the fire, or any information they believe could be suspicious.”
Those who provide information to help identify an arsonist could receive awards of up $25,000, Sgt Davies said. People with footage are urged to contact police or Crime Stoppers, who can then provide them with a link they can use to send the content through.
