Update, 3:10 pm: The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) on Friday issued new emergency warning in the suburbs of Forrestdale in the City of Armadale, Australia.
The warning has been issued for people on "Nicholson Road, between Armadale Road and Seamp Road, and between Oxley Road and Rowley Road, in Forrestdale", DFES said on its website.
"You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. There is a threat to lives and homes. There are several fires burning in the area. The bushfires are moving fast in a south-westerly direction. They are out of control and unpredictable. Burning embers are likely to be blown around your home," it added.
The DFES has asked the residents in the area to move to safer places. "Do not wait and see, leaving at the last minute is deadly... "If you live in Nicholson Road leave in a southerly direction towards Rowley Road," it added.
Original Story
At least three people are reported missing and as many as 95 homes have been destroyed in a massive bushfire in West Australia's Yarloop town, south of Perth.
"We have three people unaccounted for from Yarloop. We are making inquiries ... at the moment," ABC News quoted WA Fire and Emergency Services commissioner Wayne Gregson as saying. "We've had what I would suggest [are] catastrophic losses within Yarloop."
The massive blaze, named Waroona fire, has burnt more than 53,000 hectares of the small town. Besides homes, historic buildings, workshops, factories, the post office, a fire station and parts of a local school have been damaged in the fire, according to reports.
"These are, as yet, to be definitively confirmed figures, but it appears that we've lost around 95 houses, a number of structures within the town site including some of the historical buildings, the workshops, some factories, and an impact at 70 per cent on the demountable component of the local school," Gregson added.
The Waroona fire is reported to have risen to the heights of 50 metres in the forest, and destruction was caused overnight.
"It just got out of control around 6:30pm, 7:00pm, ... after that it just ripped through, it was quite scary," Jesse Puccio, a Volunteer firefighter, said.
An emergency warning has been issued for the Shires of Waroona and Harvey, including Waroona, Hamel, Cookenup, Yarloop, Harvey, Preston Beach and Lake Clifton. The authorities have asked the residents of these regions to shift to safer places as there are risks that heat caused by the flames may result in casualties.
