Petherick Street fire: East Bunbury home destroyed by fire on Tuesday morning

A fire destroyed a home on Petherick Street in East Bunbury on Tuesday morning despite desperate efforts from firefighters to save it. A woman in her 20s and a woman in her 30s were taken to Bunbury Regional Hospital with smoke inhalation, alongside a toddler who was in the company of the woman in her 20s but was not harmed in the blaze. Six fire crews attended the house at around 9:50 am after a fire broke out in the front living room, but they were unable to save it with 80 per cent of the home already being engulfed in flames by the time they attended the scene. The blaze was controlled by 11:30 am but the house was already destroyed, with the Department of Fire and Emergency services saying the estimated damage bill was over $250,000. The cause of the fire was undetermined, but it is believed to have been an accident. A number of people were seen in tears in a car parked on the verge outside the home during the blaze, consoling one another with their backs to the flames. Neighbours lined the street and watched on as firefighters tried to save the home, while police have blocked off part of the road to traffic as the fire continues to burn.