2015 Esperance bushfires

2015 Esperance bushfires
View of the Esperance fires from NASA's Suomi NPP, using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) imagery on 17 November.
Location	Shire of Esperance
Coordinates	33°6′21″S 120°59′2″E / 33.10583°S 120.98389°E / -33.10583; 120.98389 (approximate ignition point of Cascades fire)
Statistics
Cost	A$60–150 million
Date(s)	15 November – 26 November
Burned area	More than 310,000 hectares (766,000 acres)
Cause	Lightning
Land use	Residential Farmland Forest reserves
Buildings destroyed	— 3 houses — 16 non-residential buildings
Fatalities	4

The 2015 Esperance bushfires were a series of catastrophic bushfires that burned from 15 to 26 November and affected the Goldfields-Esperance region in the Australian state of Western Australia. During the fires, the Shire of Esperance experienced two significant fires and a complex of fires; 128,000 hectares (320,000 acres) were burnt by the Cascades fire, 18,000 hectares (44,000 acres) were burnt by the Merivale fire, and 164,000 hectares (410,000 acres) were burnt by the Cape Arid complex of fires. On 17 November, during the major run of the Cascades fire, four civilian fatalities occurred in vehicles traveling on Griggs Road in Scaddan. As of 2016^[update], the Cascades fire was equally the worst bushfire in Western Australia in terms of human fatalities along with the Willow Springs/Nannup fire of January 1958.

The Cascades fire destroyed Scaddan town hall, one house, 16 non-residential structures and dozens of vehicles in the communities of Grass Patch, Salmon Gums and Scaddan. There was also significant damage to rural produce; approximately 4,500 head of died and 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of crop—constituting about 500,000 tonnes of grain—were burnt. In addition, the Merivale fire destroyed 2 houses in Stockyard Creek, and the Cape Arid complex destroyed significant areas of Western Ground Parrot habitat—reportedly up to 90%—prompting discussion that the critically endangered parrot could "... become the first bird in at least 200 years to become extinct in Western Australia".

Agriculture is the predominant land use by area in the Shire of Esperance; between 1990 and 2000 the region witnessed an increase of 50% in the total cropped area and a decrease in the total area dedicated to farming, the main crops produced are wheat, barley and canola. Cropped areas are particularly combustible prior to harvest, and stubble is retained post harvest to reduce soil erosion, which maintains a combustible ground cover and increases fuel load in pre‐harvest fields.