Wickepin housefire: Dog escapes major blaze on Dumbleyung Road in southern Wheatbelt

A dog has had a lucky escape after a home in the Wheatbelt was gutted by a ferocious blaze.

Emergency services were called to the scene of the fire in Wickepin, about 200km south-east of Perth, at 10.22am on Thursday.

When crews arrived at the brick and tile house on Dumbleyung Road, the home was “fully involved”, a DFES spokesperson said.

Wickepin chief bush fire control officer Trevor Leeson said the woman who lives at the property was not at home when the structure went up in flames, but her dog was, managing to escape before the fire “totally destroyed” the building.

Wickepin man Tony Brown, who is also a volunteer firefighter, said he saw smoke coming out of the roof and called triple zero before grabbing a water truck at the nearby Wickepin depot and returning to the blaze.

He was joined by volunteer firefighters from Narrogin, Pingelly and Wickepin who brought the blaze under control by about noon.

“Once a structure fire starts, that’s it,” Mr Brown said.

The fire has gutted the building and a strange-smelling smoke — possibly from asbestos contained in the structure — has filled the air.

Mr Leeson said the cause of the fire was accidental and it was the third structure fire in Wickepin in six months.

Firefighters remained on the scene and had cordoned off the area to protect bystanders from exposure to asbestos and smoke.