A COOLOONGUP couple came close to cancelling the wedding they’ve been planning for two years after a fire broke out and burnt thousands of hectares.
Newlyweds Paige and Jacob Dodds thought their wedding on January 11 wasn’t going to come into fruition amid the bushfire raging in Baldivis.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services issued an emergency warning for the blaze, which started on January 9 and burnt about 1330 hectares after several days.
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READ NOWJacob Dodds said he and Paige thought there was going to be an issue the day before the wedding at Baldivis Farm Stay.
“Both of us we would’ve been really disappointed if it didn’t happen, we’ve been planning it for a long time,” he said.
Mr Dodds said he went to the Baldivis fire station and weighed options, with the last resort option to have the wedding cancelled.
“The issue was, if there was a fire, how to get everybody out,” he said.
“We would have to had no vehicles on the property but would’ve had a bus to leave quickly and have no issue for firefighters come in.”
DFES Superintendent South Coastal Ray Buchan said even though the department wasn’t in the wedding business, they wanted to assist the couple in seeing their special day go ahead.
“A contingency plan was put in place for wedding guests to be evacuated on buses hired by the couple should fire conditions escalate,” he said.
“The safety of the community is at the heart of everything we do, and I’m pleased we were able to get a great outcome on this occasion.
“However, every emergency is different, so we recommend event organisers always have contingency plans in place and stay informed by visiting Emergency.wa.gov.au .”
After the fire was contained, Mr Dodds said he received a call at about 9am on the day of the wedding to tell him there was no issue.
With bushfires starting all around WA, Mr Dodds advised couples who may end up in the same situation to be open and honest with their local fire station.
“The thing that was really surprising to me was that how much out the way these fireys went for us,” he said.
“The priority for everyone was that there’s no harm to everybody.”
DFES issued an all clear on January 14.