A bushfire emergency has broken out in suburban Perth, with a quick-moving blaze putting dozens of homes and lives at risk.
The bushfire broke out just before 3pm local time in a small pocket of bushland in Ellenbrook, about 30 kilometres north-east of Perth.
The area is surrounded by more than 100 houses, tightly packed in a modern residential estate.
The fire is impacting a residential neighbourhood in Ellenbrook. (ABC News)
An emergency warning is in place for people in an area bounded by The Broadway, Galatea Pass, Farmaner Parkway and Elmridge Parkway.
“People need to leave now in a southerly direction,” the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said.
Aerial footage showed a cabana engulfed in flames in the backyard of a home.
A cabana is engulfed in flames. (ABC News)
Huge plumes of smoke could be seen blowing across the residential area.
Emergency services have been deployed to the scene, including aerial support to battle the blaze.
Fire trucks were seen hosing down scorched land right next to the fence line of some homes.
There are unconfirmed reports some homes have been damaged.
‘Mayhem’ on the ground
Resident Bruce described the situation on the ground in Ellenbrook as “mayhem”.
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“There’s people obviously trying to get out of the area, the immediate area, and a lot of panicked residents,” he told ABC Radio Perth.
“Some on their roofs, quite close to the flames, but generally yeah, it’s pretty chaotic.”
Bruce said he saw the blaze spreading quickly, and said the height of some flames were towering over homes.
“It’s jumped a couple of roads already, heading east,” he said.
Residents have described some of the flames as being twice the height of their homes.
“The flames just came so quickly … one minute it was there, and the next it was here and funnelling down our street,” Natalie Packer said.
Her neighbour Sylvana Hedger recalled the chaos of the blazes pivoting in the wind.
“The wind has changed directions several times, so just when we thought we were in the clear, it sprung up in front of us,” she said.
The temperature in Perth reached 34C today.
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