worst of the fires, the Tostaree bushfires, spread rapidly, burning of thinly populated State forest, grassland, and farmland near the Princes Highway between Nowa Nowa and Newmerella, just west of Orbost. The fires quickly destroyed two houses (with several other houses being saved by fire crews), cut power to most of East Gippsland east of Nowa Nowa for several days, and caused the Princes Highway to be closed for almost two days, effectively isolating the region. The firefighting effort included two hundred CFA firefighters, seven aircraft, and the Elvis air crane. Early speculation was that the fire had been started by clashing or fallen power lines caused by the strong winds. Milder weather conditions allowed the fire to be largely contained by 3 February, and the Princes Highway was reopened with a reduced speed limit. Further investigations suggested the fire had been started by smouldering tree roots from a lightning strike months earlier. WA On the night of 5 February 2011 a fire began to the east of Swan Valley when a tree branch fell on an electrical transmission tower, resulting in hundreds of people being evacuated. By 7 February the fire had burnt through with 150 firefighters tackling the blaze. The high winds resulted in all fixed wing water bombers being grounded, but five helicopters (four helitankers and one large type 1 helicopter) were used to combat the blaze. At about midday 6 February a fire began in the south eastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia in the Perth Hills. By the next day hundreds of residents were evacuated from the suburbs of Roleystone and Kelmscott as firefighters battled to contain the blaze. At an early stage of the fire at least eight homes were lost and over of bush had been destroyed. By the end of daylight on the same day the number was raised to 35 homes lost. By late afternoon of 7 February the fire had destroyed 64 homes, with 32 more damaged, and was 95 percent contained with more than 100 firefighters still tackling the blaze. A total area of was burnt out by the blaze, which is believed to have been started by sparks from an angle grinder igniting dry grass. On 6 February additional bushfires were burning in the Perth suburbs of Ferndale and Wilson in bushland adjoining the Canning River. Outside of Perth there were three additional fires burning in Chittering Estate,