Neighbours helped each other defend their homes as a surprise bushfire swept towards High Wycombe in Perth. The blaze was sparked in the middle of a bushland reserve that firefighters couldn’t get to. It was fanned by gusty winds straight towards homes. “It was up in flames when I arrived, and I guess 20-30 metres away from the houses, pretty close,” one woman said. Residents said the gutters of at least one property caught fire. But the biggest threat was flying embers, which in one case travelled more than 100 metres through the air to Steve Tate’s front doorstep on Torquay Lane. And an elderly woman’s backyard was only saved by the intervention of neighbours like 16-year-old Blake Manser. “I got the bin, stuck it in the pool, got water, and put the fire out,” he said.