Fires fright

Malita Ronchi

A FORMER Oldham Chronicle employee has spoken of her fear as wildfires raged close to her home in Perth.

Malita Ronchi, formerly Morrison, emigrated to Western Australia in 1988 after working at the Oldham Chronicle stationery shop for five years.

The 61-year-old, who married Australian husband Henry Ronchi two years ago, said: “The fires have been ferocious.

“We’re used to small bush fires, but this was out of control.”

The wildfires tore across the outskirts of Perth destroyed at least 59 homes and damaged another 19.

The original fire was started accidentally at midday on Sunday when a man using an electric grinder in the garden ignited dry grass.

The other fire began later that day when a tree branch blown down by strong winds hit electrical equipment.

Both blazes have so far razed 4,000 acres of forested land to the north and south east of Perth, but there have been no reports of serious injuries or fatalities.

Mrs Ronchi, formerly of Huddersfield Road, Austerlands, now lives in Roleystone, which has been declared a disaster area since the fires devastated the area.

She said: “At first we didn’t panic but as the day went on, friends started to phone us asking if we were OK.

“They told us it was a big fire that was out of control, and that we should be ready.

“Later that day, we visited a friends house and were told that the main road leading out of Roleystone was closed.

“And while there, members from our church who had been evacuated from their homes for safety started turning up.”

Mrs Ronchi said Western Australia had experienced an exceptionally dry Christmas, with temperatures regularly touching 100F and no rain since the beginning of November.

She said: “We spent a fretful Sunday night hardly sleeping and heard helicopters dropping water on the fire to control it.

“Although we haven’t seen flames, the air is filled with black smoke.

“And because we haven’t got natural gas in the area, gas canisters used to store the fuel are blowing up.”

Mrs Ronchi said: “Watching TV reports is harrowing, I saw pictures of my friend’s house go up in flames like a match stick.

“Luckily, local organisations such as the Red Cross and the Lions Institute have been taking care of the people affected.”

In contrast, huge areas of the country’s East Coast are recovering from the effects of flash floods in Queensland last month which was followed by Cyclone Yasi last week.