Firefighters drown houses with raw sewage in blaze gaffe

Firefighters in Australia were tackling a blaze when they mistakenly dropped sewage on residential properties from an aircraft.

An emergency-level warning was issued on Wednesday as the fire burned through nine hectares as firefighters were issued to tackle the blaze, along with a water-bombing aircraft.

Water that was dumped on the fire was drawn from ponds which were later discovered to contain sewage water and upon this realisation, the authorities put out a hazardous and toxic materials alert for people who live in Bullsbrook, north-east of Perth.

Those living in the affected area have also been advised to hose down contaminated structures and vehicles and those with household water tanks should also empty those too.

Fruit and vegetables in gardens should not be picked or harvested in the next 48 hours and should be washed well after this time.

Since the mix-up, authorities have reassured residents not to be alarmed since the hot weather in the area (highs of 105°F on Friday and Saturday, and 100°F on Sunday expected) will help to neutralise any bacteria.

In addition, no buildings were "directly targeted," but did note that properties nearby the bushfire "may have been impacted by some aircraft drift spray."

The ponds used to draw the water are fed from a reticulated water supply and do not have any PFAS chemicals present, the Department of Defence said.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said on Thursday (February 8): “During bushfire suppression operations to protect the Bullsbrook College and surrounding properties (on Wednesday, helicopters) drew from water sources that have been identified as sewage wastewater holding ponds."

“On this particular instance (the helitankers) accidentally drew water from a holding pond in a wastewater treatment facility,” Premier Roger Cook said in a statement, while an investigation into the incident has since been launched.

“Our priority is to keep people safe and to get the fires out and in an emergency situation sometimes it doesn’t always go to plan. We are just responding from the abundance of caution."

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