Rewards offered as suspicious bushfires burn through WA's Kimberley
The bushfire has been burning through Waterbank for several weeks. (Supplied: DFES)
In short:
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services says a number of suspicious fires have burnt more than 200,000 hectares of land in the Kimberley.
WA Police are investigating several scrub fires which burnt a large portion of bushland on Yeeda station.
What's next?
A $25,000 reward is being offered for any information that leads to the conviction of an arsonist.
Bushfires have swept through more than a million hectares of bushland in far north Western Australia, with authorities hoping to flush out those responsible for a number lit deliberately.
A fire stretching between Waterbank and Willare, between Broome and Derby, has burned through more than 200,000 hectares.
Flames came close to the Thunderbird mine site last weekend, and WA's Department of Fire and Emergency Services said it was one of a number of blazes believed to have been deliberately lit.
Authorites have been routinely monitoring upwards of two-dozen separate fires across the Kimberley since the start of the northern fire season. (Supplied: DFES)
"Unfortunately, it is a factor we need to address in the Kimberley region, arson is an issue," DFES Kimberley Superintendent Glenn Hall said.
"I can only encourage the public, if they see any suspicious activity, to report it."
Derby detectives said on Friday they were investigating a series of suspicious scrub fires that occurred on Yeeda Station.
They said rewards of up to $25,000 were available for any information leading to the "identification and conviction of an arsonist".
The emergency alert was downgraded on Wednesday, with firefighters continuing to monitor the blaze.
A fire near Mount Jowalenga Station is still being monitored. (Supplied: DFES)
Over 1 million hectares burnt
A DFES spokesperson said there had been 56 bushfires larger than 1 hectare across the Kimberley region since the start of August, burning more than 1 million hectares of land.
There were 15 reported fires under surveillance across the region on Friday afternoon.
The national spring bushfire outlook, released last month, pointed to increased fuel loads driven by recent above-average rainfall as a key factor in the elevated fire risk.
Mr Hall said it was impossible to ascertain how many fires were believed to be deliberately lit, but he urged locals and visitors to avoid lighting them.
Glenn Hall says some fires in the Kimberley have been deliberately lit. (ABC News: Herlyn Kaur)
"There should be no excuse at all to light a match across the region, there should be no campfires across the region at all," he said.
"So if you're travelling, it's an activity that shouldn't be encouraged at all."