Bushfire damages burial grounds and historic buildings at important Stolen Generations site

Giovanni Torre Updated December 17, 2025 - 5.54pm (AWST), first published at 4.45pm (AWST)

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Firefighters have battled the blaze at Mogumber for more than 48 hours. Image: Pauline Bantock via ABC.

Bushfire has caused severe damage to Aboriginal burial grounds and a former mission site in Western Australia's Wheatbelt.

A bushfire in Mogumber, 120 kilometres north of Boorloo, burnt about 7,000 hectares before being downgraded to advice level late on Tuesday night.

Authorities say the blaze caused extensive damage to the area's historical buildings and crops, the ABC reports.

A Department of Fire and Emergency Services spokesperson said buildings of the Mogumber Mission had been destroyed by the bushfire.

"Despite valiant efforts of career and volunteer crews, seven buildings were destroyed, including Mogumber Church," they said.

"All buildings were uninhabited and had been vacant for several years.

"DFES has engaged a recovery group to support the Shire of Gingin and the local community."

The historical Mogumber Mission founded over a century ago, was a state-run institution where Aboriginal children, forcibly removed from their families, were taken.

*it is understood the Mogumber Mission church has been badly damaged. Image: State Library of Western Australia.*

The Heritage Council describes the Mogumber as "arguably the most important site in Western Australia representing the physical representation of government policies, social attitudes and racist theories towards Aboriginal people throughout the twentieth century".

Yued Aboriginal Corporation chief executive, Rewi Lyall, told the ABC its destruction was an "incredibly sad time" for the Traditional Owners.

"The devastation of the mission and farmland is a deep blow [and] very heartfelt for everybody whose lives and families have a connection to that place," he said.

"It's a hard time, and it's even harder to know that the fire went through the cemetery there as well."

Mr Lyall said he was hopeful graves at the Mogumber Aboriginal Memorial cemetery would not be badly disturbed.

"The firefighters were very well aware of the significance of the cemetery and assured us that they were going to do everything they could to ensure that area was not disturbed ... [but] without having a chance to survey the damage, it's difficult to say," he said.

Mr Lyall said the broader landscape had been culturally significant for millennia.

"The river that runs through Mogumber, the Moore River, is a sacred site of many thousands of years' importance to the Yued people," he told the ABC.

"Yued camped along the river for generations. Children were born at places of particular significance along the river, including the vicinity of the mission."