10.30pm: Bushfires plaguing the Esperance region has killed four people and an unconfirmed 15,000 stock.
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A public community meeting was held at the Esperance Civic Centre at 11am where it was confirmed that four people and up to 15,000 stock had lost their lives to active and out of control bushfires.
Department of Emergency Services (DFES) acting superintendent country south Craig Waters said two fires were "still active" and were a significant risk to life and property.
“The cascade [bushfire] is 117,000 hectares with a 240km perimeter so it’s an extremely large fire," he said. “The Merivale [bushfire] is 15,000 hectares.
“Unfortunately we have had four confirmed fatalities, they were confirmed by WAPOL. We don’t have any details on their identities at this stage.
“We’ve also had 15,000 stock loses.
“We’ve had 200 volunteers, including your own [Esperance] volunteers working hard on the fight along with Parks and Wildlife personnel as well."
Mr Waters said 21 Telstra phone towers were currently down and although emergency services were working on getting them restored, DFES main priority was ensuring the safety of the fire fighters.
“The safety of fire fighters is our main priority we want to make sure that they are safe and that requires people not moving into that area," he said.
“We are looking at having both fires contained at 1800 hours tomorrow with some favourable weather conditions.
“We are hopeful that we can achieve that, but again depending on if we get any flare ups or breakaways from the perimeter edge, which isn’t tracked at this point of time.
“We will keep the traffic management plan in place and will have road closures and vehicle control points in place until we think it is safe enough for not only our fire fighters to go through but also the community."
He said other DFES services were coming to the region to help fight the fires.
“From the other DFES regions we have strike teams and task force coming down and also resources from the metropolitan area to bolster our incident management team," he said.
“We have significant resources coming down from the metro."
9am: Two women and two men have died after trying to drive to safety from the bushfires devastating Esperance.
State Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Wayne Gregson said the deceased were travelling in two separate cars, and their bodies were found in the fire area of Grass Patch, Salmon Gums and surrounding areas in Esperance overnight.
The catastrophic blaze broke out on Sunday morning near Cascade, 100km northwest of Esperance, and is now burning between Scaddan and Salmon Gums.
"There are two adult males and two adult females involved," he said. "I understand there was a single male occupant in one vehicle and three other deceased in another vehicle."
There are fears two more people have also died but authorities could not confirm. WA police would investigate the deaths of the deceased and report to the coroner
Earlier Wednesday: Four people have died in bushfires burning near Esperance.
WA Police confirmed all four died in the North Cascade fire, 60km north of Esperance. They are expected to release further details shortly.
So far, 300,000 hectares have been burned in the North Cascade fire, one of four major bushfires sparked by lightning and burning in WA's south since Sunday.
Authorities have advised residents of Grass Patch, Salmon Gums and surrounding areas in the Shire of Esperance that there is an immediate threat to lives and homes.
Authorities have advised residents of Grass Patch, Salmon Gums and surrounding areas in the Shire of Esperance that there is an immediate threat to lives and homes.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services in its latest advisory said the bushfire was moving slowly in a north easterly direction, and was out of control and unpredictable with flames up to two metres high.
A bushfire emergency warning also remains for people in the the Stockyard Creek and Mullet Lakes areas, with the fire contained but not controlled.
A watch and act for Thomas River-Poison Creek area of Cape Arid National Park is in place because of a fire which has pushed through the park onto private property.
Primary schools at Scaddan, Grass Patch and Salmon Gums will be closed on Wednesday.
Onshore Cafe Esperance employee Joy Forster said more than 100 people had flocked to Esperance following evacuations, with others fleeing north to Norseman.
"There's been lots of smoke around town," Ms Forster said.
"It doesn't look good from the photos."
Ms Forster said a number of people had slept in the Esperance Civic Centre where an evacuation centre has been set up, while firefighting aircraft had flown over towards the fire ground.
She said the cafe was donating coffee cups for a community breakfast at the centre.
Mr Gregson said more than 300 people have been evacuated from affected areas, with 60 people fleeing to Norseman.
Horizon Power said 489 customers in bushfire-affected areas were without power and it would be some time before it was restored, while crews await an all-clear from DFES.
Mr Gregson said winds had made the fire unstoppable in catastrophic fire conditions on Tuesday.
According to BoM data, gusts reached 100km/h while temperatures exceeded 40C, with Esperance recording its warmest November day since 2003.
WA Premier Colin Barnett is expected to fly to Esperance on Wednesday to inspect the catastrophic damage.
Esperance resident Kerry Greg said he broke down in tears when he heard about the fatalities.
"(I) can't believe it. It's just devastating. Absolutely terrible," Mr Greg, who runs the local BP service station, told the Nine Network.
"The town's rallied together really, really well. I think everyone's glued to their tellies. It eerily quiet around."
WA Police said in a statement that five disaster victim identification officers and two arson squad detectives would fly to the area.
"It is believed the fire was not deliberately lit," the statement said.
The four bodies were found in the fire area of Grass Patch, Salmon Gums and surrounding areas in the Shire of Esperance overnight.
Tuesday's coverage
The majority of two farms run by Jaymie and Michelle Green are among the thousands of hectares that have been destroyed by bush fires in the Esperance region.
The couple's farms, which are covered in dry crops and located diagonally opposite each other on Roland Road and Fields Road, have been struck by fire plaguing the area.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) has sent eight managers and four volunteer trucks from Perth to help contain the three "out of control" bush fires in North Cascade, Merivale and the Mount Ragged area of Cape Arid National Park.
DFES also issued an emergency warning for North Cascade at 6.57pm which said "You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive".
"There is a threat to lives and homes," a DFES statement said.
A threat to lives and homes was also issued in the Stockyard Creek and Mullet Lakes areas in Merivale as well as on the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway 50 kilometres south west of Norseman in the Shire of Dundas.
The bush fire in North Cascade was believed to be moving fast in a south easterly direction, with firefighters describing blazes in North Cascade and Merivale as "out of control and unpredictable".
The Green's farm is one of the many areas that had been destroyed by the bush fires after catching alight shortly before noon today.
The couple's daughter, Tara Green, said she had received a message from a friend at a neighbouring property who said their property had caught alight.
"She messaged me to say ours is up now ... we knew it was only a matter of time."
Ms Green said her dad was still fighting the fires but her mum was with her closer to town.
She said the full impact of the blaze was still unknown but there were millions of dollars worth of wheat and barley crops and machinery located on the farm. She said there were other farms in the area that had also been destroyed.
Ms Green said it was more than just her parent's home on their 3249 hectare farm, but their livelihood as well.
"We haven't really been able to talk other than some phone contact with dad just to pretty much say that he is safe," she said.
"He's still out there fighting away but I think it's just so out of control that not a lot can be done."
She said it was looking to be "such a good year for all the farmers" and with all the dried grain everywhere and the weather conditions it would be easy for the fire to spread.
"There's so much grain everywhere. There's just no way to stop it."
Ms Green said her family was devastated but it would be a "wait and see" process before they were able to assess the damage.