Ben Negri, Babakin, reflects on February bushfires

Mr Negri runs a sheep and cropping enterprise at Babakin, halfway between Bruce Rock and Corrigin.

More than half of his property was destroyed in the February blaze, as well as 20 kilometres of fencing, 946 hay bales and more than 300 sheep.

In some instances, he can remember putting out a fire, only to turn around and see it had ignited again.

Rainfall has been a mixed blessing in the months, which have formed the road to recovery since.

Lupin and canola crops in burnt out paddocks have yielded well, but Mr Negri fears a bigger fuel load could pose an even greater risk than the last.

And he believes there could be more buhfires in the future because of the direction farming is heading, with many favouring cropping over sheep.

"Normally, high winds in May would affect the paddocks where crops were only just starting to grow," Mr Negri said.

"It wasn't the case this year, and now there are a lot of wild oats and weeds in areas the fire tore through.

"There are also less trees and bushland, which I don't think will ever grow back and could increase the risk again.

"Having sheep was the only thing that saved us in some areas, because pasture paddocks helped to slow the fire down."

At the same time, Mr Negri said there was a heightened awareness and bushfire preparedness in the Bruce Rock and Corrigin communities.

Proof of this was in the fact many farmers had purchased new and upgraded existing fire units.

Beyond that, he said the Department of Fire and Emergency Services and Shire of Bruce Rock had also invested in equipment - including a new truck - and offered fire training courses.

"The Shire purchased some handheld thermal cameras to locate hotspots.

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"This was earmarked as important, because they couldn't tell if some of the trees were still burning on the inside.

"Other than that, we've been keeping an eye on the weather and made sure to maintain our firebreaks as best we can.

"We are certainly going to be more careful now because we don't want to see anything like the February bushfires ever again.

"Even the older generation hadn't dealt with a fire like it, so the hardest part was the fact no one really knew how to attack it."

Mr Negri hoped more basic training courses would be made available to raise awareness and understanding.

"We especially want more of the women to get involved, so they have an idea as to what can happen too," he said.

"I was out fighting a fire and my wife asked me what to do, but I didn't know what to tell her - she received a text message to evacuate anyway.

"It was pretty daunting when she was told to leave and didn't know what was happening.

"That's where training courses could help."

While bushfire permit systems have been reviewed one of the biggest issue was that less people were in the area at certain times of the year.

"There are a few things worth taking into consideration this bushfire season when it comes to issuing permits," Mr Negri said.

"We have an increased fuel load because our crops are much bigger than before, and there are a lot of people away on holiday in February.

"What this means is there aren't as many people around to fight a fire at the start and this is what made last season difficult."

Finding what financial support was available also proved challenging for many residents in the bushfires' aftermath.

Mr Negri lost a significant number of wether lambs but couldn't source funding to help cover livestock veterinarian bills.

"We seem to get forgotten out here, whereas other areas seem to get handouts straight away," he said.

"A lot of people struggled with the paperwork and gave up trying to sort it out.

"I think this needs to be made much clearer and easier to access."

What did shine through and was a positive in the dark times was the sense of community spirit.

This was something Mr Negri was grateful for.

"Everyone constantly checked in with one another - even locals who weren't affected offered to shift trees of fences, donate hay and agist sheep," he said.

"It helped to have people who understood what you were going through, after fighting fires for the day about 20 of us would catch up over a beer.

"Blaze Aid was also probably the best thing to come out of the fire and we were really lucky to have them."