A Border Collie named Riley deserves a lifetime of treats after he woke his owners to a fire burning at their Roleystone property last week.
The fire at the Stonegate Road property was first reported about 12.44am on Friday at the same time hundreds of firefighters were battling an out of control blaze in Forrestdale.
The scrub fire started when a dead tree fell across the road onto powerlines, sparking a fire in the homeowner’s front yard.
Emergency crews from as far as West Swan, Vincent and Claremont joined volunteer fire fighters from Roleystone at the property as flames came within metres of the family’s home.
Homeowner Tania Mingo said within two minutes of their dog waking them up they were faced with a wall of flames, ember attacks and endless smoke.
“It took out our deck, shade sail, outdoor furniture and various other things on the deck and around the pool but our house was saved,” she said.
“Obviously we are eternally grateful to the fire brigades, at one point we counted nine vehicles.
“They had the Forrestdale fires somewhat under control by then or at least enough to divert all these vehicles so they didn’t end up with another full blown emergency.”
Ms Mingo has since urged residents to think about the possible dangers of what is in their yard and their surrounding property.
“I will not only be staying in Roleystone but I will stay on top of my property even if I have to find money we don’t have to undertake the maintenance,” she said.
“I am not going to concrete my yard just make it as fire safe as possible while still keeping more than enough trees.
“If only one person in every street can learn from this it will be worth our drama.”
