As Western Australia heads into another risky bushfire season, communities ravaged by fire in recent years say they are worried about their safety, despite being better equipped to deal with a disaster.
On Tuesday, the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council advised drier parts of southern Western Australia to prepare for "above normal fire potential" this summer.
As recently as Wednesday, a bushfire threatened lives and property near Albany on WA's south coast, before its warning was downgraded to advice level.
In Yarloop, Esperance and Margaret River – three towns in the state's south-west hit hard by bushfire in recent years — locals have ongoing concerns about mobile black spots, stretched volunteers and community preparedness.
In 2016, the small town of Yarloop was largely destroyed by fire and two lives were lost.
At the time, a report into the fire noted warnings given to residents of the town weren't timely or accurate.
Seven years on, Yarloop Community Resource Centre manager Julie-Anne Ford said "nothing has changed" to fix mobile black spots in the town.
She said if fire struck again, she was worried text message alerts wouldn't get through to residents.
"Yarloop is a black spot" she said.
"I don't think telecommunications are any better in Yarloop than what they were in 2016.
"It worries me hugely — people are so dependent now on mobile phones. People just didn't know to leave in the last fires."
Esperance volunteers 'stretched'
Just a year earlier, a fire on WA's south coast near Esperance killed four people.
Shire of Esperance deputy chief bushfire control officer Will Carmody said his biggest worry was that volunteers were stretched.
"The volunteers are under pressure," he said
"The volunteers are there, but they're not able to afford the time that they would have once been able to.
"Everyone is stretched to be able to do their own work … [so] they're going to be more fatigued, more under pressure."
A coronial inquest into the deaths of four people during the fires called for more mitigation, more staff on the ground and local water bombing capacity based in the Wheatbelt.
Mr Carmody said while there had been investment in firefighting equipment and a bigger focus on mitigation since 2015, more could be done.
"There is more capability in some areas, but some other things it probably hasn't changed a lot," he said
"Water bombing is now certainly something that is becoming a little bit more prevalent … we would certainly like to have fire bombers based in Esperance more of the time.
"If an aircraft has got to come from Albany or Bunbury or Jandakot, it's the best part of two hours away. If you can have an aircraft on-site within half an hour, it can actually turn the fire around quite well."
Crews prepared but some complacency
In Margaret River, many residents are still holding onto terrifying memories from the 2011 fires that destroyed 39 homes.
More than a decade later, Cowaramup fire control officer Ian Earl said his biggest concern was community preparedness.
"If you're a landowner anywhere you need to make sure your property is as fire-safe as you can possibly make it. You need to get your firebreaks done [and] get your areas around your house cleaned up," he said.
"It's a lot easier for us if your house doesn't catch fire because you've done the work around it.
"Most people are pretty good, but there are some out there who unfortunately couldn't care less and they put themselves at risk and their neighbours."
From a firefighting perspective, Mr Earl said a lot had changed since 2011 and crews in the area were more prepared.
"Since 2011 we've had a big influx of trucks, training, we now have really good resources of water-bombers … we've got a large air tanker that's going to be sitting on the airstrip at Busselton ready to help us [and] anybody else across the majority of the state.
"I think we're as prepared as we possibly can be"
