News Archive

Christo the alpaca was one of the heroes of the bushfire that destroyed more than half of the University's 52-hectare research station at Shenton Park in January.

He is known as a ‘guardian alpaca' and looks after a precious flock of research sheep, keeping foxes and dogs away so his flock can peacefully graze.

Christo led his flock to safety when staff from the Biomedical Research Facility (BRF) arrived and rushed to move the sheep.

It was not just a calm and authoritative alpaca who saved the day:  Firefighters, University staff, good planning and efficient fire suppressant systems plus, as Malcolm Lawson, Director of Animal Care Services, put it, "the planets aligned to keep us and the animals safe."

First, the fire at Shenton Park was the day before the bigger, more disastrous fire at Parkerville in the Perth hills.  If the fire on University property had been that day, the 70 firefighting crew and three helicopters which were deployed to contain the blaze to just 30 hectares would not have been available.

Fire crews came from Daglish, Claremont and Perth and worked with a UWA emergency response team and staff from the BRF. Director of Research Services, Dr Campbell Thomson, said one of the fire officers in command was Jon Broomhall, a brother of Professor Susan Broomhall in the Faculty of Arts, so he understood the importance of saving the research station.

Dr Lawson also has a connection with Jon.

"Every year, we induct firefighters from the local Daglish station, so they are familiar with the research facility," he said. "I was on site when he recognised me. He was one of the men we had inducted several years ago.  He had left the Daglish station and been promoted to a commander but he still remembered the facility and knew what was at stake.  Importantly, he also knew me and let me in to help co-ordinate the rescue of the animals."

"We had to turn off the air-conditioning so smoke was not sucked into the animal houses, which meant we had to monitor the small animals closely because it was very hot," Dr Lawson said.

"We also had to move two flocks of sheep which were in danger, both valuable groups of animals involved in long-term important research, long-term investments for the University. Christo had already herded his flock away from the approaching flames.

"Luckily, some of the bigger animals were not on site. It was another stroke of luck that they had been agisted out during the summer when research staff were on holiday and we hadn't yet loaded up for the start of the academic year."

Dr Lawson and his staff also turned on the perimeter sprinkler system that runs along the fence line. "We worked very hard to get that system in place and it helped to save the facility and the animals," he said.

While the staff were taking care of the animals, power lines fell across the road out of the facility.

"The firefighters escorted us through a clump of burning trees to get off the property," Dr Lawson said. "They did a fantastic job."

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Robyn Owens said the research community was "incredibly grateful for the professional and skilled work of our UWA Emergency Response team and the Fire Services units.

"Not only was there no damage to any buildings, people or animals, but long-standing important research projects were protected.

"The loss of any of our research animals or facilities could have impacted on PhD theses, grant projects, and research of global significance, such as our work on pre-term births, mesothelioma, muscular dystrophy, animal grazing and climate change, and any of a number of projects relating to our native fauna.

"To replace the loss of these animals would have taken many years, and we would have seen a significant drop in our research."

The University thanked the firefighters and the UWA emergency response team with a small function at the BRF a few weeks after the fire.

Dr Thomson said the emergency response team, which included Gaye McMath, Bob Farrelly, Grant Wallace, Garry Jones, George Anderson, Dr Lawson and others, assembled within an hour of the fire starting.

"Our security staff kept the public away and let the UWA people into the property and everybody acted very professionally, dropping what they were doing to help save the property and the animals," he said.

"Thankfully, Shona Cools, working onsite at Dreamfit (a UWA-based initiative to design and create recreational equipment for people with disabilities) raised the alarm.

"All our research was threatened," Dr Thomson said.

If the facility had gone, it might have taken between three and five years to get research back on track, at an estimated cost of more than $150 million."

And more good news: a couple of weeks after the fire, the green shoots were already coming through.