Geraldton bushfire destroys one home as up to 200 firefighters worked to control blaze

One home has been lost and hundreds of others came under threat from a bushfire authorities suspect was deliberately lit in the West Australian city of Geraldton.

Dozens of firefighters were sent from Perth to help extinguish the bushfire amid extremely hot, dry and windy conditions.

The fire impacted neighbourhoods in Waggrakine, Morseby, Bluff Point, Sunset Beach, Spalding and Glenfield, in Geraldton's north, and has destroyed one suburban home.

"We can confirm we have lost one residence … from ember attack," Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) Superintendent Mark Bowen said on Monday morning.

"And we have one small old outbuilding [destroyed], a small asbestos shed."

Mr Bowen said early signs indicated the fire was deliberately lit.

"It's under investigation, but it does appear to be suspicious," he said.

"That's not confirmed, but all initial indicators are that it was a suspicious fire."

More outbreaks feared in 42C heat

Mr Bowen said the weather conditions were "very challenging" for firefighters, with a top of 42 degrees Celsius on Monday.

"We have very strong easterly winds gusting up to 80 kilometres an hour," he said.

Another 60 firefighters travelled from Perth today to relieve local crews who have battled a number of blazes in recent days.

Second home almost lost

Speaking later on Monday morning, DFES incident controller Brent Allen said firefighters had "a better handle" on the fire than they did earlier in the day.

But firefighters anticipated a wind change on Monday afternoon that tested the strength of containment lines.

Mr Allen said a second home was almost destroyed by the fire.

"There was some fire activity in the roof space of a house and the crews managed to get in and and extinguish that fire. It was a really good save on their end," he said.

Mr Allen said drones being flown over the fireground by members of the public briefly disrupted firefighting efforts.

"All of our planes had to be pulled off the fire ground from active firefighting duties," he said.

"There should be no drones on the fire ground."

At a community meeting at 2pm authorities advised residents most people should be able to return to their homes in Waggrakine on Monday night, if conditions did not worsen.

Western Power said all power should be restored to affected customers by 8pm.

The fire alert level was reduced to a 'watch and act' on Monday afternoon, and it was further lowered to an 'advice' level just after 7:30pm.

Wary locals on stand-by

Spalding resident Ross Reynolds spent the morning patrolling his property with a hose in hand, describing the "hot and windy conditions".

"I'm just watering down the gutters and stuff like that. We haven't got much water pressure at the moment, I think the fire brigade are sucking up all the water," he said.

"I'm hopeful I'm all right here. I've got big footy ovals surrounding me, so hopefully that's enough to keep it at bay, but the flying embers would be the worry."

Mr Reynolds said he was also concerned for his father who lives nearby.

"I was going to go to work but changed my mind and came back … [to] make sure he can get out if he has to," he said.

Flames metres tall threaten homes

The fire ripped through bushland next to Mitchell French's property, with a firebreak just a few metres wide separating the flames from his home and neighbouring buildings.

"I came home to that fire nearly touching the gumtree branches [in our neighbour's backyard] … that was a bit of an 'oh no' moment," he said.

Mr French said he saw some flames metres tall engulfing trees as the blaze tore through the golf range in front of his property.

"It was pretty intense seeing a flame that tall," he said, before describing how smoke blanketed his street.

"The smoke was pretty bad, to the point we had to put the kids inside. You couldn't be outside."

'Unsafe in a matter of minutes'

Sunset Beach resident Kerry Baker said she chose to evacuate within minutes of spotting smoke on Sunday afternoon.

She had been napping when the power went out.

"I went into the street to see if anyone else had lost power, and I didn't realise there was a fire behind the house," she said.

Sunset Beach lies between the coast and the fireground, and Ms Baker — bordered by Chapman River to the south — was worried about being cornered by the blaze.

"If the fire went across the highway, I would have got stuck, because of the river," Ms Baker said.

Ms Baker decided to leave immediately, grabbing only her vital medication before she drove to a friend's house in Geraldton's southern suburbs.

"There are going to be a lot of people displaced. I'm worried for them and I'm hoping it's not too many," she said.

Residents flee blaze

Waggrakine resident Jesse Pickett knew the fire had escalated when he heard planes around midday on Sunday.

He said he went to the Spalding Park Golf Club, where nearby residents had started preparing to leave.

"The smoke was getting so much blacker. I could hear the stress in all of the of the neighbours," he said.

"They're all shouting, screaming 'We need to leave, we need to go. Don't worry about the house. If we have to go, we have to go.'"

Mr Pickett said by the time he decided to go home and prepare to evacuate, local roads were flanked by flames.

"The fire's already jumped [Chapman Valley] road and lit up the paddock near the Waggrakine school," he said.

"So I was basically flying through fire."

Mr Pickett said after packing he went to a police blockade, where around 40 other cars had parked to monitor the smoke.