Twilight Beach sand dunes at risk of erosion after bushfire, Shire of Esperance says

The Surf Life Saving Club near Twilight Beach was spared fire damage.  (ABC Esperance: Emily Smith)

Esperance residents are urging beachgoers to stay off charcoaled sand dunes so one of the area's most famous coastal landscapes can recover from bushfire.  

A prescribed burn last Wednesday reignited and scorched 180 hectares between Twilight and Fourth Beach, west of town, before Western Australian emergency services crews and volunteers brought it under control with the help of a timely downpour. 

The local surf life saving clubrooms were lucky to survive unscathed. 

"All the vegetation around it has been scorched but the club itself is still there, which is amazing," Esperance Goldfields Surf Life Saving Club president Kelly Buttle told the ABC after the fire.

"[The landscape] is like looking at the moon. It's quite confronting really."

The Shire of Esperance asks people not to walk on the burnt dunes. (ABC Esperance: Emily Smith)

But Shire of Esperance environmental coordinator Julie Waters is concerned for the area's sand dunes, which have been left exposed and vulnerable to erosion.

"The dunes could become really bare. That then mobilises the sand," she said.

"And just things like the nice bike track that we've got out to Twilight, you won't be able to ride your skateboard there because you'd end up with sand under your wheels."

It will take the dunes five to 10 years to return to their pre-fire vegetation levels. (ABC Esperance: Emily Smith)

Re-vegetation could take up to 10 years 

Ms Waters said the recent rain was a relief because it would help the dunes hold their shape.

But while some areas would start to reshoot in the next couple of weeks, she said it would take five to 10 years for the dunes to return to their pre-fire vegetation levels. 

Ms Waters said there may be some silver lining. 

Most of the dunes had been covered in a weed called pyp grass, planted in the 1980s to help them stabilise, but which outcompeted native species.

The area to the right will recover naturally but the left side is bare as it was covered in pyp grass. (Supplied: Julie Waters)

She said the shire, and a range of other stakeholders, were now working on a plan to reintroduce more native species back to the area.

"Our main priority is going to be to stabilise the dunes," Ms Waters said.

"We'll be planting endemic species back there."

She said the community would be able to help with that effort in the future by participating in tree planting days. 

A fire last week burnt sand dunes near Twilight Beach. (ABC Esperance: Emily Smith)

Ms Waters said the main message to beachgoers was to stay off the dunes to minimise erosion.

"It's really unfortunate that I've seen motorbikes up there driving around," she said.

"That just doesn't help at all."

The Twilight Beach toilets remain closed while repairs are carried out to the building and its water supply.

Parts of the footpath near Twilight Beach also remain closed.