Burns done to protect abandoned town
Volunteer firefighters have travelled by plane and boat to the former Aboriginal community of Oombulgurri to protect what is left of the town from fire this summer.
The State Government closed the troubled East Kimberley community, 50km from Wyndham, in December.
The closure came after it was revealed annual wages totalling more than $300,000 were being paid to keep two police officers and two nurses at the community, which was home to as few as five people.
Wyndham Volunteer Emergency Services second-in-command Brendon Fielder said there had been no maintenance or fire prevention work around the government infrastructure, housing or the town site.
“We were requested to conduct a perimeter burn of the town site to protect this infrastructure from the threat of wildfires,” he said.
Ten volunteers from the Wyndham VES spent two days conducting the burn last month, giving them an opportunity to train in unfamiliar territory.
