Fire emergency, power outage and lotto windfall among Geraldton Guardian’s most viewed Facebook posts of 2025

The top 10 most popular posts on the Geraldton Guardian’s Facebook page for 2025 attracted a massive audience of more than 1.7 million views combined.

A new road safety tactic, a fire emergency, a widespread power outage, a massive local lotto win and the case of Dozer the dog were all among the Guardian’s posts to attract the biggest audience last year.

Coming in at No. 1 was a video post about the arrival of a sophisticated new mobile AI road safety camera in Geraldton in July. The mobile camera on a trailer is able to detect multiple offences at once, including speeding, mobile phone use and failure to wear seatbelts. That post has garnered 493,130 views as well as 1457 comments.

The next most-viewed post was a short video of a water bomber in action helping fight the raging bushfire that threatened hundreds of homes in the Waggrakine, Spalding and Bluff Point areas over two days in late November and early December. That video post amassed 312,704 views.

Another post related to the same fire came in as third most-viewed, with a video showing a man watching as plumes of smoke filled the air as the emergency reached its peak attracting 228,808 views.

A story about bail being granted to the son of a police officer in April, who is accused of multiple rape charges had 133,385 views.

With 131,003 views, at No. 5 was a post about a non-fatal two-vehicle crash that caused traffic to back up on Chapman Road in March.

Posts about a $7.5 million lotto ticket being sold at Queens Supa IGA in Geraldton in September, and a massive power outage which impacted all of Geraldton and much of the Mid West in December, also attracted views in excess of 100,000 each.

Rounding out the top-10-viewed posts for the year was another update about December’s bushfire emergency, the sighting of a whale carcass at Separation Point in April and the initial story in August about Dozer the golden labrador impounded by city rangers and declared a dangerous dog. Prompting community outrage, the case dragged on for several months, with Dozer’s owner launching a legal challenge that ended in the council revoking its declaration.

The Guardian’s top 10 Facebook posts last year attracted a total of more than 1.78 million views.

The top 20 posts were all about local stories and amassed more than 2.57 million views, while over the course of 2025 the Guardian’s posts drew in views totalling more than 24.5 million, a surge of 288 per cent on the 6.3 million views in 2024.

The Guardian’s audience grew by more than 8 per cent last year to 36,000 followers.

GERALDTON GUARDIAN’S TOP 10 MOST VIEWED FACEBOOK POSTS OF 2025

1. New road safety camera rolled out in Geraldton (493,130 views)

2. Water bomber hard at work (312,704)

3. Scary sight in bushfire zone (228,808)

4. Bail granted to cop’s son accused of rape (133,385)

5. Chapman Road crash backs up traffic (131,003)

6. $7.5m local lotto windfall (106,733)

7. Massive power outage in Geraldton and Mid West (104,759)

8. Update on bushfire emergency (95,717)

9. Shark carcass washes up at Separation Point (93,975)

10. Save Dozer the dog appeal (87,079)