WA news LIVE: Fire damages multiple homes in Perth’s north-east

A fire has damaged at least eight properties in Perth’s north-east, with the cause of the blaze now being investigated by the WA Police arson squad.

Residents in Ellenbrook were forced to flee on Thursday afternoon or to stay to defend their homes, some using garden hoses to douse the flames.

The flames tore through bushland and reached the fence line of homes before firefighters got the fire under control.

Residents have been told it is now safe to return, but that anyone doing so should be cautious and monitor conditions, with a bushfire advice warning still in place.

Keep up to date on the latest via the Emergency WA website.

Here’s what’s making headlines today:

• Nine Entertainment has struck a deal to sell Australia’s top-rating conservative talkback stations 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR to publican and pokies billionaire Arthur Laundy and his family for $56 million, marking a major transition in Australia’s media landscape.
• A shambolic plan by conservative Liberal MPs to replace Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is bogged down in a dispute over who should replace her, as aspirant Angus Taylor urges colleagues to avoid a messy spill next week and instead turn the spotlight on Labor over a looming interest rate rise.

• The record-breaking heatwave scorching south-eastern Australia this week has fuelled deadly bushfires, filled skies with choking smoke and made temperature records tumble.
• US intel says the Chinese president wants his military to be capable of invading Taiwan by next year. Where did this target come from and will the military purge impact it?
• Health Minister Mark Butler says Australia is monitoring an outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus in India “very, very closely” after the country’s neighbours ramped up their border protections to avoid any further spread.
• A man falsely claiming to be an FBI agent showed up to a federal jail in New York City and told officers he had a court order to release Luigi Mangione, authorities say.

Good morning readers, and welcome to our live news blog for Friday, January 30.

Making headlines today, West Australian parents are keeping school catchment zones front-of-mind in the hunt for a new home in Perth’s hot property market, with new data revealing a southern suburbs school as the most-searched catchment in the state.

Find out where that is here.

WA billionaire Andrew Forrest’s flagship green hydrogen factory cost Australian taxpayers $80 million while his company spruiked its “successes” to foreign investors, only to abandon the project months later.

Find out more here.

And, in case you missed it late yesterday afternoon, Consumer Protection is pursuing the business formerly known as Nicheliving in the State Administrative Tribunal over allegations it breached WA law by releasing funds from a trust account improperly.

Read more here.

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